Digimon Adventure Remix 02
by AngelRin89
Summary: Set 2 years after Digimon Adventure. Strange things are happening to the digital world. New & old foes-new Digidestineds too? Tai & co. must find a way back to help these new kids stop this evil threatening the Digital World. Sorta AUish-Digimon S.02
1. A New Journey Begins

****Chapter 1: A New Journey Begins****

**_Re-edit Note:_ Here we are, revised Chapter 1, now I just gotta go and re-edit 2-14/15ish...OTL **

**AN: I use the dub names in this fic, also the pairings that you will see are Taiora (TaixSora), Mimato (MimixMatt), Daikari (DavisxKari) and Miyakeru (YoleixT.K.). Though I promise you I will be ship teasing a lot of other ships too…possibly, here and there, if you squint ;) (I do love a lot of ships).**

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><p><em><strong><span>-The Adventure Begins-<span>**_

Mimi couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. It was sunny, breezy, beautiful, and of course, her birthday! Granted it was a bit odd that it was so nice, seeing how it was December, but Mimi didn't see any reason to complain. It was perfect and beautiful, just for her birthday-she figured to herself. All the original Digidestined gathered at Mimi's to have a party. Mimi only wanted her personal and closest friends to be with her today.

"All right Mimi, now make a wish!" Her mother happily exclaimed.

Mimi, naturally, complied, and quickly blew out all fourteen candles. Her friends applauded, all wishing her a happy birthday, as her dad took pictures of the eight kids around the table.

"Time to cut it!" Mimi shouted with enthusiasm, and held the knife rather clumsily.

It was too clumsy for Joe's comfort; he yanked it from the brunettes hands. Joe simply handed the knife to Mimi's mother before he turned and glared at the girl.

"You should be more careful, Mimi. What if you got hurt? Knives are not toys."

Mimi's mother simply giggled, watching the worry-wart teen nag at her daughter. The birthday girl made a fake pout face before she smiled, sticking her tongue out at Joe.

"Good ol' Joe, always making certain everybody is safe, and covered with helmets and elbow pads." Tai joked.

"Hey, I'm just making certain she's careful, I'd hate for her to lose an eye or a finger on her birthday!" Joe retorted defensively.

"Relax Joe, I was just kidding!" Tai said with a huge toothy grin; and smacked Joe on the back, accidentally sending the poor oldest member of the gang—face first—into Mimi's birthday cake.

"Opps…"

Tai scratched the back of his head, a sweatdrop forming in that crazy hair of his.

"Honestly Tai." Sora sighed as she smacked her palm to her forehead.

"Sorry Joe…" Tai tried to hold back a laugh.

Izzy and Matt tried to help clean up the mess; Matt also was trying very hard not to laugh at poor Joe covered in icing and cake. Joe managed to get the frosting thankfully off his face and out of his hair.

"Sorry about your birthday cake Mimi." Joe began to wipe the frosting off his glasses, which had _'Hap'_ and _'hday'_ on them.

"Don't worry about it Joe, it's not your fault anyways, it was an accident. Besides, Tai's the one to blame." Mimi winked.

"Hey!" Tai shouted from one corner of the room, as he threw away all the frosting-covered napkins, "I heard that Mimi!"

She just stuck her tongue out at Tai, before she erupted into another giggle-fit. Everybody else joined in the laughter, and ate what they now dubbed, _"Joe Cake"_, as they joked, and started talking about the good old days. It was, what one would consider, a perfect day.

However the laughter was cut short, they all heard the sound of thunder cracking in the air.

"A storm?" T.K. looked out the window.

"But it was sunny just a minute ago." Kari followed after Tai to go check out with T.K. the strange weather.

Pretty soon all eight of them were crowded around the window, trying to see what had been going on outside. Indeed, the weather got bad pretty fast. It was thunder, lighting, and the rain had been pouring.

"How bizarre." Tai breathed.

"Well, come on kids, why don't we go open some of Mimi's presents." Mr. Tachikawa suggested, leading the kids away from the window and into the TV Room.

The unsettling atmosphere seemed to disappear for now as Mimi opened up all her presents. Mimi's dad was going to take the pictures, but it started off with Izzy giving Mimi the first present. He got her new upgrade software for their home computer, after the picture and a hug from Mimi…he went blabbering in the corner to Mr. Tachikawa about how to install it while Mrs. Tachikawa instead took the pictures. Mimi just shook her head giggling watching Izzy go on and on about this new software.

"That Izzy…he just doesn't know when to quit." Matt laughed.

"Yeah, I figured he was gonna get Mimi some computer installation gift—or software mumbo-jumbo, at least he didn't get her some silly computer game that she'd probably never touch. I guess Izzy realized this way her whole family will benefit from it." Tai chimed in.

"Okay, and these presents are from Tai and Kari!" Mrs. Tachikawa handed the two presents tied together, over to her daughter.

Mimi ripped off the wrapping paper from the top gift, the one from Kari. Inside was a white T-shirt with three pink stars in the center of it, her face lit up, "Thanks Kari!"

"You should thank my mom, she's the one who paid for it, I just picked it out." Kari laughed and gave the birthday girl a hug.

"This is adorable; I'm going to wear it tomorrow!"

Mimi moved to the gift from Tai—ripped the paper off and opened the box, it was also a very cute shirt. A baby blue T-shirt with the word _'Princess'_ written across it in glittery-pink lettering, and a glittery-pink crown over the _'P'._

"Wow Tai, didn't know you had such good tastes." Mimi giggled as she noticed Tai's cheeks turning red.

"Hey, I'll have you know Kari picked that out! I just paid for it, that's all!" Tai grumbled, trying to hide his face from embarrassment.

"So Kari, I have to thank you for both of these great shirts?" Mimi smiled at the younger girl.

"No", Kari shook her head, giggled then teasingly stated, "Tai picked that one out by himself, I was so proud of him."

"Kari!" Tai interjected, horrified.

"Oh, so someone can get Mimi a perfectly acceptable gift, but he gets me hairpins while insulting my hair for one of my birthday's?" Sora teased.

"Not you too Sora? I _already_ said _sorry_ about that! And I didn't pick that stupid shirt out! I just paid for it! I already said it was Kari who picked it out!"

Poor Tai was getting picked on by everybody, and Joe half-wondered if karma decided to pay Tai back for having the four-eyed teen pushed into the cake.

"Chill out Tai, I'm just teasing you." Sora tried to hold in her laughter, Tai's face was red all over.

"Alright now kids, settle down—Kari, Tai…get over with Mimi so I can get a picture! And hold up the gifts you got her!" Mrs. Tachikawa urged with enthusiasm.

"Do I have to?" Tai groaned as he up the Princess shirt.

"Oh come on Princess, what are you so embarrassed about?" Matt deadpanned.

"Shut up Matt!" Tai hissed.

After she took the picture, Mimi then opened up Sora's gift, it was two red scarfs and star-shaped hairpins. After a shared hug and a picture between the two girls, Mimi opened up Joe's gift. It was a new rain coat with a matching hat and pair of rain boats. Mimi gave Joe her seal of approval, finding it very fashionable. The coat was a lime green, while the boots and the hat were a golden-yellow.

"How did you know it was going to be raining Joe?" Mimi teased.

"Hey you know my motto, you can never be too careful. Besides, you never seem to bundle up when it rains. So now you have no excuse." Joe crossed his arms.

Mimi thanked him and gave him a hug before they take a picture with his present. She then opened the presents from Matt and T.K…Matt gave her a new CD, one of Mimi's favorite Pop stars; and T.K. had gotten her a new pink cowgirl hat, since she left hers in the Digital World. She gave both of the two blond boys a tight hug and then it was their turn for a picture. But just after the flash of the camera went off, the lights went out.

"Drat, and we were almost done installing the disk." Izzy frowned from the corner of the room.

"Izzy I think that's the least of our concerns." Tai uttered dryly.

"No worries kids, I can have this fixed in a-" And almost as if on cue, the lights flickered back on. "Well how about that?" Mimi's dad laughed.

"Oh my, the weather is looking pretty bad out there." Mrs. Tachikawa said.

The phone rang; Mr. Tachikawa strolled into the kitchen to answer it, after about a minute or two, the man came back in, worry very obvious on his face.

"Tai, Kari…that was your mother, apparently the roads have been flooded; she asked if it was okay for the two of you to stay for the night, both of your parents don't want you going out with the roads so dangerous." He frowned.

"Flooded?" Joe's glasses drooped to the edge of his nose, worry plastered all over his face.

"Oh okay, thanks Mr. Tachikawa, you sure its okay?" Tai asked.

"Nonsense there is no way we're gonna let Mimi's friends leave with the storm flooding the roads like that." Mimi's mother chirped in response.

"Mr. Tachikawa—sir—can I call my dad? He's at work, and I want to see if he's alright." Matt asked.

"Sure thing son, in fact it'd probably be best if you all call your parents and ask them what they think is best. Let them know, we're fine to have you all stay here." Mimi's father stated.

"Thank you sir—T.K., you better call mom too." Matt went into the kitchen, T.K., Sora, Joe, followed immediately after.

"Very strange occurrence, sunny one minute…then flooding the next." Izzy tapped his chin as he pondered the strange events while following the others into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'll say it's strange alright." Tai crinkled his brow, and gazed out the window with a feeling of suspicion in his bones.

"Sorry it had to storm and flood on your birthday Mimi." Kari tried to at least emit some kind of aura of comfort in her frown.

"That's alright. At least nothing bad happened, and we're all safe here. And I had lots of fun!" Mimi beamed and hugged the preteen.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. And the_ "Joe Cake"_ tasted good too." Kari laughed, Mimi joined in, but Tai interrupted their giggles by as he tapped Mimi on the shoulder.

"What is it Tai?"

"Mimi, you don't think something is happening in the Digital World, do you?" Tai asked.

"Actually I hadn't even thought about that, but now that you mention it, weather does seem to always act up here when something goes wrong." Mimi's eyebrows began to furrow in concern.

"Oh no, I hope the digimon are alright." Kari hugged her arms, obviously Gatomon was on her mind and the other digimon they made friends with in the Digital World.

"Me too." Mimi replied, who likewise had concerns about Palmon on her mind.

"I'm sure our digimon are fine, when Izzy gets back in here we'll ask him about it and see if there is a way to check up on it." Tai gave his little sister a pat on the back.

"But Tai, even if the Digital World is in trouble, what can we do? The gateway is closed." Mimi placed all her presents in a neat pile, in an effort to take her mind off things.

Tai wasn't sure how to answer that.

He wasn't sure himself…

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><p>The other kids all contacted their parents; they all felt it was best if for the night at least, the kids all stayed at the Tachikawa residence. And Mimi's mother made one big dinner for all the kids. The thunder-storm finally passed, but the rain didn't let up. The kids all ate their meals in the TV room as they watched a movie. Tai couldn't bring himself to focus on the movie though. He grabbed the remote and clicked the volume down.<p>

"Whats up Tai?" Matt asked and looked up at Tai, who was sitting on the couch, sandwiched between Kari and Sora.

"It's this weather, it's sunny one minute, then stormy the next. I mean the weatherman never said anything about storms all week, just partly cloudy and maybe some chilly wind...heck the fact that it was so nice and sunny, like spring weather almost...it's pretty weird."

"This is very strange; I mean the last time I remember the weather acting up like this was…oh." Joe finally realized what Tai was getting at.

"Yeah, right before we all ended up in the Digital World." Mimi jumped up, almost knocking over the popcorn in Joe's hands.

"Mimi, be careful." Joe made certain there was no spill.

"Sorry Joe…" Mimi sat back down.

"I'll never forget that, it even snowed during the summer while we were at camp." Sora pointed out to get the group back on the subject.

"You think the Digital World might be in some sort of trouble again?" T.K. asked.

"I don't know, I just have this weird feeling it has something to do with the Digital World." Tai rested his chin on his right hand and gazed out the window, the rain continued to come down pretty hard.

"Well, why don't we finish the movie, get some rest, and discuss this in the morning. If the weather does change anymore out of the ordinary than it already has, then we can asses that something indeed is wrong in the Digital World." Izzy suggested.

They all nodded, and brought their attention back to their summer blockbuster movie. After about another hour and a half had passed, they decided to turn in for the night, but not before wishing each other good night. Sora and Kari had left with Mimi to go sleep in her room, while the boys all slept there in the TV room. They all yawned, slowly began to drift off into sleep.

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><p>Tai forced his eyes open. He looked at the scenery around him and his lips twisted into a grin that only continued to grow wider and wider. He was back in the Digital World. And Agumon was there immediately to greet him. The dinosaur ran up to him as fast as he could, and glomped the boy instantly.<p>

"Agumon!"

"Tai, you're here! I missed you!"

"I missed you too Agumon! How has it been?"

But suddenly, Agumon looked…sad, worried?

…Scared?

"Not good actually…you should go back home."

"Huh? Why Agumon?"

It grew silent; Tai was getting worried at a _quiet _Agumon.

"Agumon? Whats going on?" Tai pushed.

"Tai it's not safe in the Digital World, you have to get away before they take you and everyone's powers away, they might even try to delete you guys!" Agumon warned as his body began to fade from Tai's arms.

"Agumon! Come back!"

"I was never really here Tai, this is just a dream. But hurry Tai, wake up, he's coming!" Agumon warned before fading completely.

"AGUMON!"

Tai didn't have time to react or process his digimon that faded away, because almost right after that happened, he heard an evil laughter fill the air. It made the hair on his arms and neck stand straight up as a chill crawled up his spine. The landscape began to fade of color and life. The sky grew black.

"Whats going on? Who's out there?" Tai whipped his head around in every direction, and glared at the growing malevolent cackle.

"Digidestined of Courage, you won't be needing this anymore!" It sneered.

Tai turned around, behind him appeared a Black shadow figure, not human shaped, but it clearly wasn't a digimon either. Tai wasn't sure what it was. It almost looked like a black phantom with red eyes and dark but transparent wings. It's ghost-like arm phased through Tai's chest, he howled in pain, it felt as it his heart was being ripped out. He saw the creature pull out what looked like the Crest of Courage from his body. Tai's eyes grew wide with shock, but before he could even react, the dark creature crushed the crest before his eyes.

"You monster! What did you do?" Tai gripped his chest in pain as he snarled at the shadow creature.

"Sorry but we can't have you or your friends interfering." It just laughed at Tai.

"We? Just what do you mean shadow freak?" Tai questioned.

The creature laughed, as it also grabbed something out of Tai's pocket, to Tai's horror, it was his digivice.

"Hey! Give that back!" Tai felt a dread of panic rush through him.

"Sorry boy, but we can't have this nuisance around either." The shadow crushed it, and dropped the pieces to the barren ground of this nightmare.

"No!"

Tai wrapped his fingers around the broken pieces of his digivice in horror, the shadow continued to cackle.

"I'm getting sick of that laugh!" Tai went to go punch the thing but his hand just breezed past straight through the creature, "What?"

"Sorry but I'm afraid I'm untouchable," the creature cackled one more time, but then added darkly, "Good night foolish boy, have pleasant dreams."

Tai felt something pierce through his chest, he dared to peer down and witnessed to his horror that the creature stabbed him in the heart.

_"AAH!"_

Tai felt himself violently awoken, as his eyes shot open once more. Thankfully, this time it wasn't trapped in some nightmare. He panted for breath while glancing down, and then let's out a sigh of relief to know that he's still in one piece.

"I'm alive." He whispered, but then thought to himself, "_That all seemed so real. A dream?_"

Tai looked around and noticed all his friends were awake, sweating and panting just as hard as he had been.

"Guys? You okay?"

"Just had a nightmare is all." Matt tried to calm himself down.

"I…I had a nightmare too." T.K. had trouble catching his breath.

"Me too." Joe rubbed his temples before he placed his glasses back on.

"I also experienced a rather frightening dream." Izzy said uncomfortably, as he pulled the blanket off himself and sat upright.

"You all had a nightmares too? What were they about?" Tai asked.

"Well I was in the Digital World, and Tentomon appeared, telling me I should leave and it's not safe-" Izzy started.

"Same here—cept it was Patamon." T.K. cut in.

"Gomamon warned me the same thing." Joe glanced over at T.K. and Izzy, surprised.

"Yeah Gabumon too." Matt sat up.

"Wait a minute, after this happened, did your digimon fade away after telling you this?" Tai asked.

All the boys looked up, it was evident in their faces, the shock, that something definitely was not right here.

"Yeah, Gabumon did, and then some shadow_—__thing—_showed up." Matt glared at his fists that rested in his lap.

"And…he took my crest away…right from inside me," T.K. interjected, as he pointed to his chest, "-and _destroyed_ it."

"Yeah, and that shadowy figure destroyed my digivice after that." Joe spoke up.

"And then…he _killed_ me." Tai swallowed the lump in his throat.

"So we all had the same dream?" Izzy wondered out loud as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Something tells me the girls had the same dream too."

"That settles it; something definitely is going on in the Digital World." Tai growled.

A tense silence settled in the room for a short time, but it was chased out in an instant when the group heard T.K. shuffling through his bag, and let out a heavy gasp.

"Everybody look, my digivice!" T.K. held up his digivice, it had cracks all over it, "It wasn't like this before, it was fine before I went to bed!"

The others all pulled out their digivices immediately, faces drained of color, that theirs' too…are broken. The dark room went quiet once again; neither of the boys could bring themselves to speak. The air was so tense they could practically taste it. Joe swallowed hard, it was briefly the only sound that could be heard in the room. Tai's muttered just loud enough to be heard by the others and it had broken the intense silence, but not the tense feeling in the room.

"What…what does this mean?" Tai clenched his fist over the broken device.

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><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Stupid Narrator: What could be going wrong in the Digital World? Is a new evil force at work? Will the Digidestined ever find out how to stop it? Will I ever stop asking such obvious questions? Tune in next time for Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

**And also, Kari really DID pick out the gift that was from Tai, he just paid for it. We just like to give him a hard time. XD**

**Poor Joe-**_**face first cake blast**_** D: (I know who said it, and I love you for it! Stealing it! XD) S'ok, I punished Tai for doing that-bad Taichi! (even if it was an accident) XD.**

**Tai: HEY!**

**You'll have to forgive me, I can't stop loling at Izzy's line "experienced a rather frightening dream" it's just so in character for him. HAHAHAHA! XD**

**I also want to give special thanks to my other back up beta, MissingThePoint, for being available to help me with this. :D I LUFFS YOU SA-CHAN!**

**Boo Rin-chan****—bad me! Having a cliffhanger like that.**

**Well hope you all like my first chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you think (no flames please). **


	2. New Digidestined?

****Chapter 2: New Digidestined?  
><strong>**

****_Re-Edit Note: Revised chapter 2, now on to re-edit 3-14 (part of 15) in the near future._  
><strong>**

**Also just to be clear on everyone's ages.**

**Tai: 14, Sora: 14, Matt: 14, Mimi (recently turned cuz of birthday): 14, Izzy: 13, Joe: 15, T.K.: 11, Kari: 11, Davis: 11, Ken: 11, Yolei: 11, Cody: 8.**

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><p><em><strong><span>-The Adventure Begins-<span>**_

The group all tried to wrack their brain around what the heck just happened. They all had the same nightmare, woke up with their digivices broken, and to top that off not only did the raining stop—but the roads practically cleared of all flood waters…as if nothing happened. It was hot and sunny the following day, blazing almost (which was even weirder considering the time of year, but with the crazy weather going on yesterday, it only made sense).

They all decided to meet up again later that day, at the TV Station where Matt and T.K.'s father worked. Hopefully to figure out just what the heck is going on.

Kari and Tai got there early, hung around at the park by the TV Station, to wait for the others.

Kari took a sip of her water as she sat over in the shade. Tai continued to pace around the tree in the shade in anticipation when a voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Hey! Kari! Tai! What are you guys doing here?" A young energetic boy with auburn hair, the same age as Kari, ran up to the two.

"Oh hi Davis!" Kari waved to the kid.

"We're just here to meet up with a few friends, you?" Tai asked the preteen.

"Oh just here to practice shooting some goals," Davis bounced the soccer ball on his knees, "I met up with this Ken guy here, he's really good! You wanna practice with us Tai?"

"Naw, maybe later." Tai plopped down under the tree Kari found shelter from the sun under and unzipped his bag.

"Okay, well how about you Kari? If we can get enough kids to play we could probably have a team!" His smile couldn't get any bigger.

"Hmm…well-" Kari tapped the tip of her chin.

"Why don't you go Kari? I'll come get you when everybody is here." Tai gave her a nod, then took a sip of water that he pulled out of his bag.

"Well okay Tai, if you're sure. Count me in Davis." Kari snatched the ball from Davis.

Davis almost stumbled, laughing, while scratching his cheeks, which Tai noticed were tinged with the color pink.

"_ALRIGHT!_ Come on Kari! I'll introduce you to Ken! With the two of us as a team, we can take him down!" He excitedly pulled the girl along.

"That Davis…" Tai shook his head, watching the boy pull his sister away.

A few minutes later, after Davis dragged his sister off, Tai noticed two other people that approached him from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the left, and grinned at the two other figures walking up to him.

"Matt, T.K., what's up? Any other weird things happen around town?" Tai joked.

"Well no giant parrots or dinosaurs attacking the city on our way here, if that's what you mean." Matt quipped, before plopping down next to Tai.

"Where's Kari?" T.K. asked.

"Oh some kid from one of her classes was here, he dragged her along to go play a game of soccer with them, you can go join them if you want." Tai chuckled.

T.K. left to go look for Kari in the huge park. Tai tossed over a water bottle to Matt, who gladly took a sip, wiping some sweat off of his forehead. The air was very hot, humid almost. It felt like one was being broiled. It was hot and sticky even in the shade.

"Can you believe this weather?"

"Yeah, something definitely must be up in the Digital World, I just wish I could figure out what those dreams meant, and why our digivices all of a sudden looked like something my dad sat on." Tai groaned as he leaned against the tree.

"Yeah I can't figure it. If something is going on in the Digital World, how did it happen? I thought all the evil was destroyed after we went back and defeated both the Dark Masters—and Apocalymon." Matt stated before taking another sip.

"Well, who knows, but we're gonna find a way back there—_somehow_…and fix all this." Tai held up his busted up digivice, protectively wrapped his fingers around it.

"How are we gonna get back there if the gateways are closed?" Matt inquired.

"Mimi basically asked the same thing last night. I don't know either, I talked with Izzy about it this morning, and he said the most logical thing to do is either go back to our old campsite where we first ended up in the Digital World, or Highton View Terrace." Tai explained.

"Highton View Terrace? Well I guess that makes sense when you think about it. That was where the digimon first appeared to us, I guess there's nothing left to do except wait and find out."

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><p>There were four large digimon, in some weird, distorted dimension; it was all dark and twisted. They were trapped in these large, energy—like cages, that sapped them of power. One digimon was a large blue dragon that resembled the dragons of Eastern mythology. Another was a two-headed turtle with what appeared to be a tree on his back. Next to him, was a large white tiger with purple stripes. The last caged beast, was a large red bird-with eight wings, resembling a phoenix. These great and powerful digimon were once known as the Digimon Sovereigns. A figure appeared before them, what looked like an older human man, the dragon weakly lifted his head up at man.<p>

"Gennai…I'm so glad you come, there isn't much time." The dragon spoke.

"Lord Azulongmon, what has happened here?" Gennai asked.

"There isn't much time to explain Gennai, we have a favor we all must ask of you, while we still have little power left." The phoenix digimon, called Zhuqiaomon, spoke up, very weakly.

They all looked terrible, Gennai wished that he had the power to free them, it was painful to see the mighty Sovereigns in such a state. Gennai didn't use his powers frivolously, nor recklessly. If the ones who captured the Sovereigns knew Gennai was there, or worse, that he was able to open a small gateway to this dark dimension to begin with…his life would be in peril.

But he had to make this risk, he had to see the Sovereigns. Besides, they ordered him to come via secret messages in his dreams. Gennai knew, the Sovereigns must of been running out of time and are forced into desperate action.

"The reason we summoned you here, the Dark Ones have managed to defeat us, and sealed us away here, stealing our power—draining it. But they also somehow managed to invade the hearts of the Digidestined." The turtle, Ebonwumon, stated weakly.

"The tags and crests were necessary to bring out the powers of their virtues. While here, the power of the Digital World made their powers inside them real and were able to tap into that power without the aid of the crests, as seen in their battle with Apocalymon. But without those crests—their digimon can't digivolve in the real world. However, now they've been cut off from their powers of virtue permanently, so they can't even use the powers inside of their hearts in the Digital World anymore." The tiger, Baihumon, explained.

"So, they've lost the power to digivolve not only in just the human world, but here too? How could this have happened?" Gennai asked, "But how, how were these Dark Ones able to defeat the four of you? Have they truly grown that powerful?"

"The Dark ones, invaded their dreams, and took the power from their hearts by force, destroying it. We also sense, the devices of power and light-that help unite the Digidestined power with their partners, has also been corrupted." Azulongmon's voice was filled with such exhaustion and despair.

"We don't know how, but they seem to indeed gotten stronger, and they tricked us into a trap, but Gennai we don't have time to explain that, you must listen quickly to what we are about to say." Baihumon continued.

"What is it you need me to do, old friends?" Gennai asked, he fully understood the gravity of the situation.

"There are three things, we need from you, Gennai…" Baihumon answered.

"You see, we have four other crests hidden away somewhere in the Digital World, we've also scrounged up some of our little power to create new digivices for six Digidestined, as well as recreating the original eight crests, scattering them all, hidden across the Digital World." Zhuqiaomon explained, creating a sphere of light, and in it, six new digivices appeared within the orb, floating down to Gennai's hands.

Zhuqiaomon began to violently cough, Gennai's brow crinkled in worry and wanted nothing more to aid them, but there wasn't much he could do besides carry out their wishes. The proud phoenix digimon rose his head after that violent coughing fit, and spoke up once more.

"With these new crests, the original Digidestined will be able to tap back into their original virtuous powers that they have been cut off from. And with that, should trouble ever occur in the real world again, they'll at least have these to aid their digimon to truly digivolve to their full potential in both worlds."

Zhuqiamon glanced over at Ebonwumon, he gave his old friend a weak nod before he continued the explanation and instructions.

"We have chosen some new Digidestined, with attributes needed in this battle. The Digidestined of Light and Hope, will need these new devices, if their powers are of to be of use with the other four children we have chosen." Ebonwumon stated.

"Digidestined…four new ones you say? I wasn't aware there were others after Kari?" Gennai looked up at the large turtle creature.

"Yes, the first we discovered was a boy named Davis. He came to our attention during the time Myotismon attacked the real world. After the Dark Masters incident, the ones of Yolei, Cody and Ken was brought to our attention. We kept their presences hidden, not calling upon them til we felt they were needed. With young Kari and T.K. to help them see their destiny, and the other Digidestined of Courage, Friendship, Knowledge, Reliability, Love and Sincerity; the Digital World will be in good hands." Zhuqiaomon explained.

"So you wish for me to send these digivices to those six children? And what else is it you would have me do?" Gennai inquired.

"A long time ago, we created digimon partners for these four new children, using the little bit of my power, I have sent them to File Island, along with Patamon and Salamon." Ebonwumon explained, "When the children appear, you will need to be their guide, as well as help the original Digidestined who will also come."

"Using my remaining power, I will open the gateway, for just a brief moment, in that moment; send the digivices to the six children, which will bring them to File Island, safe from the evil ones' touch…_for now_." Baihumon added the last two words darkly.

"Which leads to our last two favors, combining our powers, we have created this, Gennai," another orb of light floated to Gennai, revealing a strange watch-looking device, "The older Digidestined children, tell them of our plight, and send them this device we have just given you. It will repair their digivices—restoring them to their original state, erasing any trace of that corruption…we would give them all new digivices also, but sadly we are running on low energy supply to make such a feat." Azulongmon weakly joked, and then added, "I will use what little of my power to summon the older Digidestined, one day from now—Earth's time, after the other six children have appeared…the older children will be immediately transported to your domain when they come through the gateway. Gather their digimon partners—wait for them there. As for my last favor…"

Another orb of light-but far different than the others, its brightness exceeded anything Gennai has ever beheld, descended to him. Gennai gaped at it as he jaw hung down, the warmth of the orb filled ever inch of his body just being near this bright orb.

"But this, isn't this your Digicore? Lord Azulongmon?" Gennai looked up at the dragon digimon, nervous as he wondered what had been going through his old friend's mind.

"Correction, that is the Digicore of all four of us, I fused it into one, but I can't hide it forever from the Dark Ones, it's one of the things they are after. You must not let them have it no matter what. You will hide it, in a place the Dark Ones could never suspect, I trust in you Gennai, go—and _make haste_." Azulongmon said in a hushed voice, they all sensed a dark presence was coming their way.

"I understand, I wont let you down my old friends." With that, Gennai left without a trace.

* * *

><p>The heat of the sun blazed down on everyone in the park. Though that didn't matter to four kids who had been laughing and kicking the soccer ball with one another, not a care in the world. These kids being—Davis, Kari, T.K., and a dark haired boy named Ken.<p>

"Hey Kari, pass it over here!" Davis exclaimed.

Kari kicked it over to Davis, who sends it at a tree with one hard flying kick. The ball bounces off the tree, Davis jumps up and down screaming—_Goal_—but his excitement is cut short when he hears a loud yell.

"_Owww!_ What the heck was that?!"

They turn around and see a lavender-haired girl, with a blue bandanna on her head, rub a red spot on her forehead. A little small brown-haired boy picks up her glasses that landed in the grass.

"You okay Yolei?" The little eight year old asked.

"I'll be fine, my glasses aren't broken, are they?" She frowned.

"Nope, not a crack on them." He shook his head, handing them to her.

"Well good." She puts them back on, the four kids about her age ran up to her.

"Hey are you okay?" Kari asked.

"Oh man, I'm really sorry about that…sometimes…I get _way too_ into this game, here." Davis nervously scratched the back of his head, extending his other hand down to help the girl up.

"It's okay, I'm fine, and most of the pain has gone away." She answered, taking Davis's hand, who pulled her up. She giggled, teasing the boy, "So all is forgiven, I _suppose_."

"Suppose?" Davis whined.

"Relax, I'm just teasing, we're good." The girl reassured him.

"I thought you looked familiar…" T.K. peered around Davis, "Hey Yolei."

"T.K. Hi! Fancy seeing you here!" Yolei gave the boy hug.

"So what are you doing here?" T.K. asked, as the two stepped back from the greeting.

"Well I came here to go shopping for the day with Cody and his Grandpa, there were telling me that the supermarkets in this town has some of the best stuff that we can't get at my family's home store! Or any of the stores around our complex for that matter." Yolei explained, and motioned to Cody.

"Hello T.K., my name is Cody. It's from my understanding that you just moved into our apartment complex about a few weeks ago. It's nice to finally meet you." Cody said politely with a bow.

"He's a wordy little kid." Davis whispered to Kari, with a puzzled expression.

"I think the word you're searching for is _polite, _Davis." Kari whispered back, as she suppressed a giggle.

"It's nice to meet you Cody. Oh, Yolei, this is my friend Kari. And this is Ken, and you met Davis." T.K. laughed, pointing to the soccer ball in Davis's hands.

"Yeah sorry about that again." Davis chuckled through a nervous grin.

"Well it's nice to meet all of you—_Hey_, can we play for a little bit?" Yolei asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier, right Davis?" Kari placed her hand on Davis's shoulder.

"Sure!" Davis's cheeks became pink the moment Kari touched him, "Sounds like fun! Now we can be in teams of threes!"

"Just try not to knock any innocent bystanders out again, Davis." T.K. quipped.

Davis groaned, but laughed it off. He and Kari asked little Cody to be on their team, while Yolei joined T.K. and Ken's team. The six kids were having a blast—just kicking the ball around. Eventually they all forgot they were on teams, and just ended up passing it to each other or playing keep away. The fact that it was incredibly hot and humid was ignored on all six of them as well.

But then…a bright light shot out from the sky, blared down at each of the six kids, crashing into the ground in front of them like meteors. T.K., Kari and Ken felt the digivices in their pockets get hot, like it was ready to burn a hole straight through their pockets. They instantly pulled them out—the lights in the ground merged with their digivices, changing their shapes and color. The lights also had burst out of the ground, in front of the other three—flew into their hands, new digivices taking the same shape and a different color like it did with T.K., Ken, and Kari.

"I'm having deja vu". T.K. muttered to himself peered at this new digivice.

"What…is this thing?" Davis held it up to his ear and shook it.

"Sam's digivice…what happened to it?" Ken mumbled.

"T.K.—look!" Kari pointed up to the sky.

Rays of light beamed down on them, much like you would see in those alien abductions. However the light was rainbow colored, just like it was back when they returned to fight the Dark Masters.

"I think…" T.K. uttered quietly, before he shouted back to Kari, "I think this light is going to take us back to the Digital World!"

"Digital World?" Yolei and Cody blinked in confusion.

"What's a…Digital-_world?_" Davis's question was about to be answered.

The light than began to pull them up towards the sky. Yolei visibly flipped out. Ken and Cody both looked shocked. Davis was both shocked and confused. T.K. and Kari just looked at each other and nodded, before turning their attention to the sky.

"Looks like we wont have to worry about getting to the Digital World." Kari whispered to herself, as they all got taken through the portal, "Sorry Tai…everybody…looks like we're going on without you."

* * *

><p>Matt and Tai ran as fast as their legs could take them as they witnessed that light from afar. There was no trace of a soul, or the lights. Just small craters and lonely soccer ball. Tai grit his teeth as he tasted the hot and sticky air.<p>

"Where did they go? What was all of that?" Tai exclaimed, whipping around, as he tried to find any sign of his sister, or the kids she was with.

"Okay, now I'm ticked, they clearly must have been taken to the Digital World, but why just T.K. and Kari? And what about those other kids we saw getting pulled up with them!?" Matt glared down at one of the craters.

"New Digidestined? But, why leave us behind? Just what's going on?" Tai growled, punching his fist into the ground.

"Tai!" A voice shouted.

"That sounded like Sora…" Tai got up and turned around.

Sora and Joe had been sprinting towards them. Though Joe looked more like he was dying from lack of air as he sprinted.

"Matt! Tai! Over here!" They heard Mimi from the other direction, Izzy running up with her.

"Hey guys, you all made it." Matt looked at everyone in the group, who all gasped for breath from running so fast, especially Joe.

"What was with that light show? Where are T.K. and Kari?" Sora asked.

Tai just pointed up to the sky in immediate response. The scowl on his face was quite evident, he was not happy about this whole situation. Not that any of them were, but it was obvious Tai and Matt were the most peeved just by looking at their faces. Sora figured though it had more to do with their younger siblings vanishing then the rest of them being excluded.

"I thought so, I had a feeling that was them, but who where those other kids with them?" Sora inquired.

"Well I don't know who they all were, but one of them was a classmate of Kari's. I got a feeling that those kids are Digidestined, I mean, look at the ground? Seem familiar?" Tai pointed to the craters.

"This seems a lot like…" Joe crouched down, inspected one of the craters, and then looked up at the sky, "A lot like what happened with us, back when we first got summoned to the Digital World."

"So, if those kids are the new Digidestined or something, why did it take T.K. and Kari too? And why did it leave us? This whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense." Mimi crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Perhaps Gennai will explain it to us." Izzy spoke up as he gestured to his lap top clutched in his arms.

"Gennai?" The others all said in unison.

"Yeah, I just got a message from him, it says, _'Izzy, there's a lot I need to tell you and the others, get to a location where you'll all be alone, and I'll explain everything.-Gennai'_" Izzy read his computer screen.

"What—this spot not good enough for him?" Tai sneered sarcastically.

Sora frowned, he was in a bad mood obviously, but Tai clearly was too miffed to be thinking. Sora took a deep breath and decided to bring some reason back in the group.

"With that light show that went off, there's no doubt it wasn't just us who saw it. Think guys, we need to go somewhere more private to talk with Gennai." Sora sighed.

"Sora is right. People are probably going to come to inspect the place, we need to get to some place where nobody will disturb us and find out as much as we can." Izzy agreed.

"The roof at my Dad's TV Station, after the battle with Myotismon, hardly a soul ever goes up there anymore, we can speak with Gennai there. We were planning on meeting at the TV station anyways." Matt suggested.

"Alright, let's hurry, it'd be bad if people see us here." Sora motioned everyone to head back out of the park.

* * *

><p>It took a bit for Matt to get his dad to let them go up to the roof, promising his dad he'll explain everything later.<p>

Once they got up top, the six of them all paused for a brief moment, a flood of memories flowing through them, the battle with Myotismon, and the death of Wizardmon.

"Well, let's get a hold of Gennai, Izzy." Tai interrupted.

That brought everyone's thoughts back to the present.

"Right." Izzy opened up his lap top and typed away.

* * *

><p>"What was that all about?"<p>

Davis threw both hands over his head—rubbed his sore temples.

"Wait a minute?"

He immediately shot up, having noticed he definitely wasn't at the park anymore. He was in some sort of weird forest, The trees, they had like weird flowers on them that he never seen before. They were huge and had stripes on some of the petals. And the tree trunks _were blue!_ And…there was _something_ in his lap.

"Davis is here!" The thing shouted out enthusiastically.

"Huh…" Davis peered down at the strange looking blue creature with large brown eyes. It had a white face and belly, hopping in his lap. "Uhhh…"

_"What…the heck is that?"_ Davis's eyes grown wide.

"I can't believe you're finally here!" It was practically dancing.

"I'm dreaming…right?" Davis was dumbfounded at the strange creature, _"What is this thing? Its not an animal, it looks more like a plush toy, and it talked! This can't be real…can it?"  
><em>

"Nope, because you're finally here! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is DemiVeemon! Its nice to finally meet you Davis!" The little guy finally stopped hopping in his lap.

"Umm…nice to meet you?" Davis wasn't sure how he was suppose to react.

Scared? Shocked? Upset? All he knew for certain, was utterly confused.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"Hey, that sounded like that Yolei girl." Davis stood up.

Yolei ran out from behind the trees. She instantly spotted Davis—the first human contact she's had since arriving in this scary and strange world—dashed up to him. Violently yanked on his arm, babbling something—too freaked out to speak properly.

"Uh…could you clarify Yolei—I can't understand you?"

DemiVeemon stared up at Yolei from behind Davis's leg in curiosity.

"There's th-th-this fl-floating, t-talking, b-b-bird head, _thing! _It w-wont st-stop following m-me ar-around!" She continued yanking on the poor guys arm.

"Yolei, look—I'll help you just please don't_ rip_ my arm out of its _socket_! I might need that later!" Davis barked as he snapped his arm away from her.

A pink feathery ball with no legs, a small beak, and two tiny wings at the side of its _"head"_, which was all it was, came up behind Yolei.

"Yolei, why did you run away from me, Poromon is your partner not your enemy." The pink, bird, thing, spoke.

She shrieked, and jumped behind Davis—grabbed his shoulders and shook the boy.

"Davis! There it is! That's the thing! That's _the thing!_ It won't stop following me!"

"Hey Davis, who's your friend?" DemiVeemon hopped up on Davis's head, stared at Yolei with excited curiosity.

"AAAHH! ANOTHER ONE!" Yolei shrieked louder.

"Way to go blue dude, you made her scream even louder." Davis scowled and covered his ears.

"Whose.._.blue dude_, Davis?" DemiVeemon tapped Davis's goggles with both his little hands.

"You, sitting on my head, _you_—blue dude!" Davis was slightly annoyed.

"I'm not _blue dude_, I'm DemiVeemon silly." The digimon giggled.

"And I'm guy_-with growing headache._" Davis grumbled, between these creatures and the panicking and shrieking girl, it was hard to not get a headache.

"But I thought your name was suppose to be Davis?" DemiVeemon tilted his head in confusion.

"It's called sarcasm blue dude." Davis blinked.

"What's that taste like?" DemiVeemon tapped Davis's goggles again.

"Davis, don't you see these creatures? They're-"

Suddenly little cream-colored creature with black eyes, no legs, and what looked like either wings, or ears, Yolei wasn't sure…appeared next to Poromon.

"They're multiplying!" She shrieked.

"Cody! I found your friends! But you might want to tell this one to turn the volume down!" The little cream creature shouted out behind him.

"Upamon! Don't wander off! I don't know my way around here, and…oh, Yolei and…Davis, was it?" The young boy walked up to the two.

"Yeah that's me, umm—Cody—yeah, Cody! Yeah you found one of those little guys too?" Davis asked.

"Mm-hm. He says his name is Upamon and he's here to be my partner. I was a little scared and worried at first, but Upamon was polite and offered to help me find my friends, he seems pretty nice." Cody explained.

"How can you two take this so calmly? We're in _who-knows-what-land_, with these _who-knows-what-things__…_I'm not even sure what they are or how we got here!" Yolei was frantic.

"Hmph! We're called digimon not _things_, digimon!" Poromon exclaimed.

"Relax, it's all pretty simple Yolei. This is a dream." Davis said casually.

Yolei smacked Davis upside the head for his troubles.

"_OW!_ What was that for?" Davis rubbed his head.

"Did that feel real to you?" Yolei crossed her arms, fingers tapped impatiently.

"Well duh!"

"Then this is no dream! Otherwise explain to me how we could all be having the same dream!"

Before Davis got a chance to retort to the very emotional Yolei, Ken popped out of one of the bushes. He jogged over to the gang, and he too had something in his arms.

"Oh, I found you guys!" He smiled, "If it wasn't for all that shouting I'm not sure if I would of found you."

"Ha-ha." Yolei grumbled.

"Oh hey Ken, so you got sent to this weird place too?" Davis asked.

"Yeah…" Ken nodded.

"What's that Ken?" Yolei pointed the green creature in a cocoon, happily snuggled up in Kens arms.

"I'm Minomon! I'm Ken's partner!" He said happily.

"Well, now that, that is all settled, what is this place?" Cody looked around at the strange landscape that neither of them recognized.

"It's the Digital World." They heard a male voice say in the distance; T.K. and Kari heading their way, with the two of them were also two other creatures.

"Even more of them? But they're all friendly, right?" Yolei asked, still uneasy and a little bit scared.

"Of course Yolei, we're your friends, we're here to protect you." Poromon frowned.

"Okay, so you said you're digimon. And we're…_partners?_" Yolei squat down and picked Poromon up.

"That's right!" Poromon was so happy, Yolei finally hadn't been running away from him in fear, or flailing and screaming for that matter, and she actually picked him up too.

"Yep, there are more creatures called _digimon_ here in the _Digital World_, some good and some bad. Our digimon are our partners, they protect us, and we help them grow and become stronger through our bond." Kari explained, holding up her digivice, "And this is what connects us to our partner digimon, their called digivices. Oh by the way, this is my partner digimon—Salamon. And this one is T.K.'s—Patamon. And you've all met yours, I can see."

"How on Earth did we get here though?" Ken asked.

"Kari and I aren't sure of that ourselves. However…we've been here before, the two of us and the rest of our friends are what was called the _Digidestined_. We were chosen with our partner digimon, to help save the Digital World, but it looks like it's in trouble again. And it looks like you guys have all been chosen to be Digidestined too, to help save it." T.K. explained.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Stupid Narrator: Who are these new Digidestined? Will they have what it takes to save the Digital World? Will the other kids be able to return to the Digital World or are they all doomed? Am I Mr. Captain Obvious? Will MarHeavenAngel be able to write an actually decent story?**

**Me: HEY! DX**

**Stupid Narrator: Tune in next time, for Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

**Me: You're fired! **

**Okay, so Ken knows a little bit about digimon, digivices and the Digital World-because ever since that digivice appeared before him and his brother-in this fanfic universe, he has had dreams about the place, but has never been there. He still didn't know that the digivice was meant for him, so this is still kinda new to him. (Sam is the name of his older brother...fyi, who died, for those who don't know or either forgot.)  
><strong>

**Also for those who don't know, those 4 digimon, are what's called the Digimon Sovereigns. There basically Gods of the Digital World, representing the 4 sacred Gods; Genbu (Ebonwumon), Suzaku (Zhuqiaomon), Seiryuu (Azulongmon), and Byakko (Baihumon). Azulongmon only appeared in 02 (which it bugs me that the others didnt, something I am correcting XD), and Ebonwumon and Zhuqaiomon both appeared in the third season-Digimon Tamers. You can look them up on the Digimon Wikia to check out their full description.**

**If you haven't done so already, check my first page-authors notes, where I list the characters ages in this story, or just in case you don't want to forget.**

**I also want to make a note that Davis, Yolei, and Cody do not wear their "Digi-world" outfits in this story. They show up in their normal world outfits, like T.K., Kari, and Ken. (What the heck is up with Yolei's Digital World outfit in 02? That thing was hideous and NOT flattering on the girl!) So basically the outfits they are wearing, is the same civilian outfits you see them wearing in Digimon adventure 02-episode 1. Also Davis has his square goggles on, Tai still has his ;)  
><strong>

**Phew, finally got that all written out with it fresh in my head. Man, this story is like constantly in the front of my mind! Always wanting to update! (But I can't do that! I have homework to do! In fact, I should be doing homework right now! BAD RIN-CHAN! *slaps self*)**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think. If people are wanting, romance off the bat...well I did just state that romance is a subplot and the story doesnt revolve around it in my author's notes, don't worry, Ill get to it soon-but for now-PLOT! D8 Ahem. So anyways, a penny for your thoughts on this chapter-but no flames. I'll update, when I can. ^^; (dang homework)**

**Special thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia. Ta for now!**


	3. Preperations

****Chapter 3: Preparations  
><strong>**

****_Re-Edit Note:_ Revised chapter 3, now on to re-edit 4-14 (and part of 15) in the near future.****

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

Tai, Matt, Mimi, Joe, and Sora all crowd around Izzy's computer, watched him type away. A miniature version of Gennai popped up on the screen, Izzy smiled with satisfaction.

"It's good to see you all again, however I'm sure you're obviously aware this isn't a social visit." Gennai began, "The Digital World is a mess-ironically, so far everything _but_ File Island has been corrupted and overrun. The Sovereigns have been defeated and captured, their power drained to almost nothing."

"Who are the Sovereigns? And how did this all happen?" Matt asked.

"The Sovereigns are four supreme and powerful digimon who reign over the Digital World. They in fact are the ones that chose you, and these new Digidestined. They also are the ones responsible for creating your digivices and crests. I believe they are what you would refer to in your world as _Deities__._" Gennai explained, "As for how this all happened, I'm not sure myself, the Sovereigns didn't have much time to explain to me where these evil digimon came from, where they got their powers, or even how they were able to defeat the Sovereigns in the first place."

Tai had the feeling they were either not getting the whole story, or Gennai had lied about something, he couldn't put his finger on it, but either way, he couldn't shake the feeling that Gennai wouldn't give them the whole truth. But that was to be expected. There was a lot they didn't know about Gennai himself.

He was a very trusted ally who always looked out for their best interests, and guided them when they needed helped, always pointed them in the right direction. But he was so mysterious. There were so many things Gennai never told them or would talk about with them. Many questions left unanswered.

He wondered if Gennai done that either to protect them, or because he wasn't allowed to disclose whatever it was he held back-from them, or perhaps a bit of both.

But there was no sense now, Tai had known that, at that moment they needed to find out as much as they could. Everything else can be worried about later.

"Okay, well...then can you explain to us about this whole, _new_ Digidestined thing...and, how come T.K. and Kari got taken with them?" Tai asked.

"The Sovereigns explained to me that they had four separate children chosen a while ago, had crests, and digimon partners created for them, but kept them all hidden away until the time was to call them as well." Gennai begun to explain.

The little miniature Gennai, on the screen, snapped his fingers during his explanation and icons of T.K., Kari, and the four new children appeared. He pointed to the images of Tai's younger sister, and T.K. as images of Angewomon and MagnaAngemon appeared as well, the moment he pointed to his sister and Matt's younger brother.

"T.K. and Kari were sent, because unlike you and Matt-" Gennai nodded towards both him and Matt, "who have the strongest of the digimon in the group, T.K. and Kari, have the strongest of the crests, the virtues...Hope and Light, are the two most powerful crests out of you eight, Light, obviously being the strongest."

Tai nodded, that much was true. He was aware of that, as much as he didn't like it (and obviously as much as Matt didn't like it, Matt was just as protective of T.K. at times, as Tai was to Kari), T.K. and Kari were given special crests, there was nothing they could do about that. As much as he'd like for Kari to never have been chosen to be a Digidestined so that way she'd never be in danger, it happened. She was considered important, her and T.K., the youngest of their group, were deemed worthy to bear special crests.

Kari, was deemed to hold the most powerful and most sacred crest.

Whether it was because of their age at the time, therefore they were the most "innocent" at heart, Tai couldn't say, but he couldn't change it either. They were all chosen, but T.K. and Kari had the responsibilities of being the bearer of the most sacred crest virtues. He imagined the responsibilities these new kids had to face were probably of just as up most importance as T.K. and Kari, seeing as they were sent with those two.

"Fueling their power into their digimon, with divine power, and as you all remember in the battle with Devimon and Myotismon, the weakness of digimon of pure darkness, is divine power. And like the rest of you, they are more experienced in combating evil forces threatening the balance of the Digital World and the real one. They will be able to help be figures of advice to the new Digidestined, while they wait to reunite with the rest of you." Gennai explained.

From the corner of his eye, Tai noticed Sora gently press forward from in between her and Izzy to get closer to the computer screen. The girl understandably was very concerned, as worry was plastered all over her face. She took a deep breath through her nostrils and cleared her throat, she opened her eyes to gaze at the little Gennai on the computer screen.

"But how were they able to return? And how come you couldn't just send us all together?" Sora questioned.

Of course, they all had wondered the same thing. But Sora was the first to voice it. Sora was like a mother hen, seeing the youngest of them, T.K. and Kari sent off without them, and even these new kids, who were strangers to the Digital World, obviously concerned her greatly. Tai could see it in her eyes, even now, she would love nothing more than to jump into that computer if it would mean it would take her to the Digital World, and fight life and limb just to see the younger kids were alright. She didn't even know those four other children, but that didn't stop her natural instincts to make certain they were safe.

"You have to understand, the Sovereigns are running on very little power. The fact they were even able to create six new digivices, be able to open the gateway for a short period of time-even twice, a device they made specifically made to repair your digivices, as well as restore the Crests of Courage, Friendship, Reliability, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Hope, and Light...is amazing enough as it is. The amount of energy they all have now after doing just that, why even a Koromon would have more energy." Gennai answered gravely.

These Sovereigns were basically deities of the Digital World, the ones who chosen the eight of them...and these enemies were so powerful that they trapped these mighty beings and were sapping their power away?

"That's awful, their powers have been drained to really that little—_wait_...did you say they restored our crests?" Tai jumped, nearly took Izzy out, his face was two inches from the screen.

Tai had so many questions, like where were these "Sovereigns" during all the battles they fought in the Digital World last time, why hadn't they stopped those enemies, why did they choose them to fight the evil, and millions of other questions that buzzed around in his head. But all those questions flew out of his noggin in the instant Gennai mentioned that their crests were restored.

"Yes, the Dark ones somehow managed to invade your hearts-through your dreams, and destroyed the power of your crests from within you, that way you wouldn't be able to access them in the Digital World, like you did in your battle with Apocalymon." Gennai explained, "You see, your crests act as a connection to your digimon, much like your digivice does, they are a manifestation of the power you hold in your heart. For example, Tai, you are the bearer of Courage. That power becomes a reality in the Digital World, and it gives Agumon the strength he needs to become even more powerful, the crests weren't needed to create that power in the Digital World, it was always a part of you. It was merely needed to bring it out. Sort of like a catalyst. But in the Real World, that power isn't the same in the Digital World, much like your digivice, you children needed a physical manifestation of your power that connects you to your digimon, since the Real World is a material place, not one of data, where a connection is stronger."

"I see, so with the crests gone, our digimon wouldn't be able to digivolve to their most powerful forms in the Real World, and the same thing can be said for our digivices." Izzy shoved Tai out of the way as he spoke up.

But it all eventually made sense to everyone as the information sunk in. They were processing a lot today. But they needed as much information as possible. So it was worth the extra time to try to make sense of everything. The Digital World and how it worked was confusing enough to begin with, so any information on how things had worked was more than welcome to them.

"Correct Izzy...now, the Sovereigns recreated, and restored your crests, scattering and hiding them within the Digital World again. I was even amazed that they still had enough energy to do that alone." Gennai answered.

"Okay, so what about my previous question?" Sora asked.

Right, how come they weren't able to go along with the new Digidestineds as well, they were all eager to figure out that answer.

"As I stated before, with the state your digivices are in and crests being destroyed, not only would your digimon _not_ be able to digivolve, but even if the gateway opened, your digivices would be too damaged to allow you to enter in. The digivice isn't just your connection with your digimon, it also serves as your connection to the Digital World. Traveling to and from the Real World and the Digital World, is incredibly hard, there are only one method to open a portal to travel between to and from without the aid of a digivice, as you remember when Myotismon used that gate to come to your world a few years ago. Usually, the portals only open because the Sovereigns either will it, or something is wrong, but even then, to come to the Digital World, when that portal is open or weakened, a digivice is needed to safely pull you here. Like when you returned to battle the Dark Masters. If you tried to come back to the Digital World at that time, you could have been lost in between both worlds. The digivice is your form of guidance, a form of connection...I suppose you could say, it was basically your built-in GPS, and without it, trying to traveling to the Digital World, chances of you being lost within portal of both worlds, are very, _very _high. " Gennai summarized the information as best as he could, then further continued.

"With the new digivices, the other four children, as well as T.K. and Kari were allowed to enter when the gateway opened for that short amount of time. But I also suspect that their new digivices have some other power that the Sovereigns didn't get the chance to tell me. They now have spent nearly all of their energy, Lord Azulongmon, however is saving that last little bit of his power to open the gateway for a short period of time, so that way you can return, in the area at which you all first came into the Digital World-"

"The campsite." Mimi cut in, and then instantly covered her mouth, "Oops, sorry Gennai, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"That's alright Mimi...to continue, I'm sending you this device that the Sovereigns created, it will repair your digivices. Once it comes through, just follow my simple instructions, but while we wait for it to load...I'll tell you what you'll do once you get here. The portal will bring you to my estate. I'll have all your digimon gathered in that time-when that happens; you will meet up with T.K. and the others in Koromon village."

Tai and the others nodded at the instructions, faces all serious, they all knew this was going to be a far more dangerous battle unlike any of the others they have faced.

"I will already have your new tags hidden there for all twelve of you, you must search for your crests, scattered across the Digital World. I have already informed T.K. and Kari about all this earlier, before I contacted you six." Gennai then added in serious warning,"You _must remember_, the Dark Ones think you are all out of the picture, so we must not attract too much attention. We can't let them know what were doing just too soon; otherwise they'll certainly be able to destroy everything we've worked for."

Tai felt the hair on his arms stand up. He wasn't afraid, not really, not for himself any way. He was more worried about everyone else, and the state of the Digital World and all the digimon there. They had no idea what they were actually up against. He was now responsible for four extra lives, in their group. He had a duty to lead, guide and protect them all. He felt a whoosh of air escape through his nose, he hadn't even realized he held his breath.

After Gennai told them all of this, a beep could be heard from Izzy's computer.

"It appears to have finished uploading Gennai, but if you don't mind me asking, how on earth did you send a device through my computer?" Izzy took his fingers off the keyboard for a moment.

"Izzy, don't sit up all night trying to think logically about how things work through the Digital World, it'll only give you a headache." Gennai laughed, "Just chalk it up to one of the amazing wonders and powers of the place here."

The screen grew brighter and brighter, radiating out of the screen, the Digidestineds covered their eyes as if someone put a flashlight right in their face. The light began to fade as they heard a _"Tnnk"_-sound, something landing on the keyboard of the laptop. Izzy held it up; and inspected it...it looked like some sort of digital watch; however it was the same color of their digivices.

"Alright everyone, get out your digivices and Izzy, prepare to do what I'm instructing you." They all pulled out their cracked and busted digivices from their pockets, Izzy following every bit of Gennai's instructions as he spoke, "Okay Izzy, the red button on the left, hold it down for five seconds...yes-good, now pull out the side knob and twist it three times towards you before pushing it back in."

Once Izzy did all that, the device began to glow...six ribbons of white light shot out of the strange watch-looking device, enveloping each of their digivices in hand. Their digivices glowed the same light, it burned brighter, and continued to glow even brighter with every passing second, during the span of a single minute. Finally, the light began to fade, the watch-like device, vanished with the light, Izzy wiggled his fingers in amazement as the watch-thing, once there, now vanished into thin air, nothing in his hand. They turned their attention to their digivices now looking in each of their hands, good as new, almost no hint of the damage they recently received.

"Hey it worked!" Joe exclaimed.

Gennai nodded his head, a warm smile on his face.

"Excellent, now remember, tomorrow you must go to the campsite, the exact spot where you all were when you were first brought into the Digital World. You must be there at exactly noon. Farewell my young friends, I shall see you as soon as you get here."

He vanished from the computer screen, Izzy then shut his laptop, the others all glanced at each other. Everyone kept quiet, even Mimi. It seemed no one was really sure what to say.

The sound of someone's throat being cleared caught Tai's attention.

"Well that settles it...tomorrow we're heading back to the Digital World." Sora slipped her digivice back into her pocket, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah and—_oh great_, I just realized, while there is a huge time difference in the Digital World and here...Kari will still be gone for a whole day. This isn't going to be an easy one to explain to my parents." Tai groaned, placing his right hand on his head, dragged it down his face, before it slipped off his cheek-falling back to his right side.

"Yeah, Dad's not gonna be too pleased with this either about T.K., or me going back to the Digital World, hopefully he'll be willing to explain this all to mom for me. That's something I'd rather not do." Matt hung his head down.

"Relax you two, everything is going to be just fine!" Mimi threw her arms around both Tai and Matt.

"Mimi?"

Tai blinked in confusion, Matt's face mimicked Tai's expression.

"Just listen...our parents know all about our adventures in the Digital World from before; just tell them that were going back to retrieve the two, and a couple of other kids. There is no sense in trying to worry about making up some lie or excuse. Our parents I'm sure will be willing to understand if we're honest about it. Honesty is the best policy after all. I know my parents won't like it, but they'd probably be more upset if I tried to not tell them everything going on and then went off anyway." She chirped up.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Matt smiled

"But of course I'm right." Mimi winked.

"Well _even you_ have to have your moments of clarity" Matt teased.

"Who knew something so _sensible_ could come out of your mouth Mimi." Tai joked.

"Oh you boys wound me! How rude!" Mimi fake-cried, though it hadn't suppressed her giggle.

"Now Mimi...could you let us go?" Tai asked.

"Why? You guys uncomfortable?" She titled her head, but a mischievous smile appeared on her face, and pulled the boys in a tighter hug, "Are Tai and Matt still afraid of cooties? And here I thought you guys were getting too old to be grossed out by girls!"

"Mimi!" Matt yelled.

The girl was surprisingly stronger than she looked, as she continued to manhandle the two with her holding both Tai and Matt in a headlock.

"I can't breath!" Tai shouted.

He pried himself free of her grip, Matt soon following after. The whole gang couldn't hold back a laugh as Matt and Tai tried to catch their breath. Tai and Matt both shot up a glare at the chestnut haired girl, she just wore a cat-like smirk in response.

"You're—insane—Mimi." Matt straightened himself back up, trying to regain what little composure he had left._  
><em>

"I prefer the term, _extraordinary_, boys." She smiled big, at the two, flushed faces.

Tai just let out a huff and scratched the back of his neck. Izzy, Joe, and Sora still chuckled silently, amused of Mimi's antics and both Tai and Matt's embarrassment. Tai was caught off guard when he felt someone tackle him into a hug from behind.

"Come on Mimi, save some of the torment for me too!" Sora laughed.

She ruffled Tai's hair, making it a huge mess (well more so).

"HEY! SORA!"

The mood had lighted thanks to Mimi's strange but effective method, the six teens ended up playing tag on the TV station roof, as they all tackled each other, non-stop laughter could be heard, Tai was surprised that even Joe and Izzy were getting involved. But that's okay.

They could use moments like this. And even though he nagged at Sora, chased after her and Izzy for stealing his goggles, he couldn't help but be thankful for it. Everyone had been laughing and smile. They needed a moment like this, especially knowing the hardships that are to come.

* * *

><p>Deep within File Island, under the protection of the lush and tall trees, hidden away, unknown to the Digital World, rested six children and digimon. They all surrounded a campfire made by T.K. and Ken. Davis and DemiVeemon were having their own private food eating contest, seeing who could eat their pile of fruit the fastest. It amused T.K. to watch the sight, as the two tied, Davis demanded a round two between them.<p>

In such a short amount of time, Davis and DemiVeemon got really close, they acted like an older brother and little brother...though nothing like him and Matt of course, but T.K. couldn't help but notice how the two were almost exactly alike, and DemiVeemon was always eager to tag along with whatever Davis was doing or mimic him, or try to goad Davis into playing games with him.

Kari said it was cute, and in a way, yeah he supposed it was true. Davis was a bit immature and arrogant at times, so DemiVeemon mimicking his every mood and word did make Davis have a bit of a bigger ego at times, but at the same time, it was clear as day that Davis doted and adored DemiVeemon. Though it was obvious to T.K., when Davis revealed to him that he was also the youngest sibling, like him and Kari, that it made sense. Davis probably always wanted a younger sibling to boss around but at the same time, play with, and be some sort of example or hero to a younger sibling. And DemiVeemon was quickly becoming that surrogate sibling.

Ken was a quiet one, he didn't talk much and always kept to himself. He was obviously a nice guy though. He would usually offer to help when they decided on what chores the gang split up amongst themselves. And he was always very gentle with his digimon, Minomon, almost like Minomon was a baby, or a little puppy. Minomon always followed Ken of course, but Ken at times seemed a bit overprotective of the digimon.

Like just five minutes ago, Ken nearly had a freak out when Minomon was coughing on some seeds of the fruit it ate, that he happened to swallowed. The little digimon was completely fine. It was in no danger actually, it coughed the seeds right up instantly, but Ken was hesitant in letting Minomon eat anymore after that, then insisted on pulling each of the seeds out of the fruit before handing it back over to his digimon. T.K. couldn't help but frown as he watched Ken pull the last seed out and hesitantly handed the fruit over to a very hungry Minomon. The boy meant well, but Ken clearly had a lot to learn about digimon. But T.K. kept it in, he wouldn't say anything, it didn't feel right. If it continues to become a problem he or Kari, (or more than likely Davis because Davis has taken it upon him to try to befriend Ken, who always shy's away. Clearly Davis's aggressive and outgoing personality is intimidating to someone like Ken) or more than likely Minomon, himself, will point it out to Ken. For now it's just harmless over-protection. T.K. didn't feel the need to intervene.

Ken didn't seem to like talking about himself or his life, in fact, really the only thing they knew about Ken was his name, his age, and he offhand mentioned that he once had a lot of dreams about the Digital World as a child. But asking him any further about it, he would instantly clam up, or run off to help someone to skirt the issue, or change the subject. He couldn't help but feel Ken was just trying to protect himself, but it was hard trying to befriend someone who wouldn't tell you about themselves at all. But he could worry about that later, he could just be over-thinking things. Ken could probably be just a painfully shy person. (That and maybe it has something to do with Davis always pestering him. Though it was clear as day, Davis meant well, Davis just likes to try to make friends with everyone, not realizing he can sometimes unintentionally intimidate people, Davis would often pester Cody, who while not as shy as Ken, was still a shy and quiet kid. Cody seemed to handle Davis better, but that was probably because Davis and Yolei were very similar in their out-spoken, outgoing, and aggressive nature.)

Cody and Upamon were warming up to each other too. Cody seemed to treat Upamon almost in a way similar to Ken did with Minomon, though not as nearly as over-protective. Cody actually was very...serious...for his age. It was hard to believe this boy was about eight years old.

From what he found out, Cody was the son of a police officer, and quite proud of that. His grandfather had been teaching the discipline that came from his Kendo training, ever since Cody started learning how to count and say the alphabet. Yolei mentioned offhand, that Cody's father died, so both his mother and Grandfather, take it seriously as Cody is to be the head of house, the man, the one with responsibility when he comes of age. And because of who his father once was, and because of his training, he is expected to live up to those expectations. It seemed Cody himself sets high expectations for himself and the world around him. Partially because of his upbringing, or because of the expectations of his mother and grandfather, or because he (obviously because of the proud look in Cody's eyes when he said that he was a son of a police officer) must idolize his now deceased father, (though probably a combination of all of it), T.K. couldn't really say.

Cody seemed to act like a very traditional, disciplined, firm child. He treated Upamon almost as he would imagine, the relationship between a teacher...a sensei, and their student. He praised Upamon whenever he showed "good manners", "respect", or "discipline". Whenever the digimon tried to nap whenever he felt like it, (it was clear Upamon was far more relaxed than Cody), Cody would scold him, but not in a harsh tone.

He'd remind Upamon often of their "responsibilities" as Digidestined and digimon partner are to be taken seriously, and their mission to save the Digital World is something to be taken seriously, whenever Upamon would goof off with the other digimon, (then Cody would in a polite tone as possible ask if it is necessary for the other digimon, and the others, depending on who was playing with the digimon, though usually Davis, for chosen ones to be goofing off, when they need to prepare for their coming battles and gather more information on their purpose here and their enemies, Davis of course would scoff and tell Cody he needed to lighten up.) and that they must always be true to their honor and purpose, Cody didn't dare talk back to those older than him, you could tell, in his upbringing, he was always to treat his "elders" with respect. And even Davis fell in that category. Though he could tell that Cody's patience with Davis would run almost to a breaking point and threatened to explode, but the boy refused to lose control of himself or his emotions.

He rarely allowed himself to express much emotion. He'd just keep to himself, be polite as always, and try to_ politely suggest_ the "proper conduct" (because to Cody it wasn't his place to reprimand his "elders") to the older kids, and to the older kids about their digimon if he felt their digimon were "misbehaving", but he wouldn't outright say it, or scold their digimon, because clearly in Cody's head, they were his, Davis's, Kari's, Yolei's, and Ken's digimon. Therefore it's not his place to "discipline" their partners, it would be "overstepping his bounds", for their digimon were their responsibility, and he must "respect" the decisions of the older kids and how they "handle" their digimon.

T.K. would have to admit, he would agree with Davis at times, it was almost tragic how one, so young as Cody, was already so serious for his age. The kid was almost forced to age fifty years or something, the moment his father had died, and his family expected him to behave in a disciplined and orderly manner all the time, and Cody himself placed incredibly high expectations upon himself. He never allowed room for fun, he never allowed room for any kind of desire, or even the innocent even if selfish, wants of a child. He quite simply, wouldn't allow himself to be a child.

He was all business and no play. He was eight years old, he should be enjoying his youth, jumping around and playing with the digimon, having games of hide and go seek, and tag with them. Stopping and enjoying the beauty and wonder of the Digital World around him while they have the chance for that luxury. Though T.K. supposed that wasn't fair, he was obviously comparing himself to Cody, when he was that age. Cody clearly had a different life and different upbringing, he can't expect the kid to be the same as him. He just wished Cody would smile more and stopped to smell the roses.

T.K. glanced over and noticed Cody was handing Upamon a stick, and placed it within the armless and legless, In-Training Level, digimon's mouth, and he grabbed a stick himself.

"When you finally do this digivolve thing, T.K. and Kari explained to us about, I'll probably be able to properly teach you Kendo." Cody explained to his little digimon "pupil".

"Fwopefully Ih'llw bwe abhle hto ghet fawrms awnd lehegs fwhen Ih digivholvhe" Upamon tried to answer, his hope for limbs in his future digivolution form, despite holding a stick between his lips.

"That would make it helpful, but I'll teach you some basics for now, you should be able to learn them, even in this state." Cody nodded, then stated, "But Upamon, you shouldn't talk with your mouth full. It's bad manners, plus it's hard to understand, if you wish to speak, it's okay if you drop your stick to talk, I'll understand."

T.K. turned his attention to Yolei, she wasn't really eating her food. She just sat there staring at the fruit at her feet, resting on top of a large leaf, her substitute plate. Poromon chewed on another bite of fruit, the little pink In-Training Level bird, rested in her lap.

Yolei it took her the longest out of the group to get settled and use to the weirdness of the Digital World. The first few nights she often woke up from some sort of nightmare of being trapped in the Digital World all alone, or some monster coming after her. Thankfully, her relationship with Poromon improved. She wasn't scared of her digimon any longer. And always kept him close by. T.K. figured it was her way as a coping mechanism. Poromon after all promised her (like all their digimon) that he was there solely for her well-being, companionship and protection. Poromon basically became Yolei's security blanket and never went anywhere without him by her side.

Not that she'd ever stray far, period, whenever the group would rest somewhere to camp for the night, or sit and rest for a bit from their walking to either eat, or just take a break. Whenever it was divided on to gather food, or stuff to make a campfire, or where the nearest water source was, Yolei was always the one that stayed immediately behind where they chose their resting spot to be, and she made Cody stay with her. (Though that was obviously for more protective reasons, Yolei acted at times almost like an older sister to Cody). She was still very scared and very unsure of the Digital World around her. That much was obvious.

"Okay, so time goes by faster here in the Digital World, that's what you said, T.K.?" Yolei asked, snapped T.K. out of his thoughts.

"That's right, so even though its been about a little over two weeks here in the Digital World, it hasn't even been a day back home." T.K. explained as he fed Patamon some fruit.

"So T.K...Kari...you said both of your brothers, and a couple of your other friends will be coming soon?" Ken asked as Minomon curled up into his lap, sleep came to the little cocoon digimon quickly.

"That's right, that's what Gennai told us, he said that after a day passes in the real world, Tai and the others will come, but since we have no honest way of knowing the strange time difference in the Digital World from the real one...Gennai said he'd contact us when its time for us to go to the Server Continent and meet up with the others in a place called Koromon Village." Kari explained as she scratched Salamon's chin.

"Okay so we basically camp out here for a bit until that old guy calls us again—or something...but what about our families? We'll still be gone for at least a day, maybe even more in our world or whatever, since this place seems to run on Narnia time or whatever. I mean our parents are probably gonna flip out and call the cops, the army—everybody!" Davis threw his arms up in the air.

DemiVeemon mimicked Davis's motion, except the little digimon fell over in the process, Poromon and Upamon tried not to laugh, but couldn't hold in their giggles. Patamon giggled with them. Salamon just rolled her eyes. DemiVeemon scurried back to Davis's lap, and peered up with a huge smile on his face, at his human partner.

"Well Tai and Matt will probably explain things to our families—as for everybody else's—I don't know...Gennai said he'd take care of it, he didn't tell me _what _it was that he was going to do, but he said he'd take care of it." T.K. stated.

"Grandpa and mom are probably worried sick." Cody looked at the ground with a heavy frown, halting his Kendo lesson with Upamon. Upamon spit the stick out of his mouth and hopped over to the side of Cody's left foot.

"Cheer up Cody, everything will be okay, you'll see." Upamon snuggled his face against Cody's ankle.

"Thanks Upamon." Cody gave a small smile to Upamon, but it was a smile none the less, and it made T.K. smile to see that the boy was capable of doing it.

* * *

><p>Yolei couldn't bring herself to eat; she got up and walked a few feet away from the campfire, stopped by a large tree and leaned up against it. She crossed her arms, a sad expression worn on her face, as she looked up at all the unfamiliar star constellations. Poromon hopped its way over to his human partner and looked up at her in sadness.<p>

Over the course of the past twelve days, his human partner had begun to get more and more use to her digimon partner. She even had come to accept him, a sign that she was obviously more comfortable with the In-Training bird digimon; she would often hold him-telling him he's cute and soft "_like a plushie"_—not that he had a clue what that was. But from her tone he could gather that it was a good thing. She never seemed to want Poromon to ever leave her side, so it was strange to see her actually wander off like this without him.

"Yolei?" Poromon lightly poked her ankle with his beak.

"Oh, hey Poromon." Her tone was dull and filled with sorrow. She bent down and picked up the little bird digimon, "How come you're over here? You should finish your dinner little guy."

"I could say the same for you Yolei. I just came to make sure you were feeling okay, how come you're not eating, something's bothering you. Please tell me."

* * *

><p>T.K. noticed Yolei wandered off a bit, but not too far from the group, he could still see her, resting against a tree in the distance, as she looked up at stars in the sky, that managed to peak through some of the branches of the sheltering trees above. Poromon hopped after her, and she picked up him and noticed to two were talking about something, but he couldn't hear what, but Poromon looked concerned.<p>

T.K. felt himself glance over at Davis. It was strange, as to why he would do something like that, but T.K. noticed over the past couple of days, he would catch himself doing things like that. Looking to Davis, as to see what he should do about something, to which he wondered why. Davis was just as new to this Digidestined thing as Cody, Ken and Yolei. He could admit, there was some similarities to Tai in Davis. The boy often boasted how Tai was his hero and he's going to become as amazing as Tai someday...but...that wasn't why. Maybe it was because T.K. deep down realized, even though him and Kari have experience, they just don't have it in their personality to boss anyone around...well really, just to be a leader. That was something Tai always did. And although the group usually compromised on everything, T.K. did notice subtle moments, where they sometimes didn't make final decisions until Davis agreed upon it. He wondered if that's because of Davis's personality, he is very assertive...but then again so is Yolei.

But then, Davis also isn't really afraid of the Digital World around them, but neither are the others, neither were either him or Kari.

He shook his head, wondered why he had been mulling over something like this. Something was up with Yolei.

It was almost as if Davis read his mind.

"Hey T.J. if you're worried about your friend, go find out what's bothering her. I'm sure she just needs a friend to talk to, so what are you waiting for?" Davis snorted before eating another bite.

It was silly, it was plain to see, even Davis, as he so bluntly put it, could see how silly it was. What was T.K. waiting for? Permission? An idea of what to do? That's ridiculous, Yolei is his friend, he knew what he should do, go to her and see what's wrong, talk to her, and find out a way to help. He doesn't need someone to tell him that, and why was he just sitting there chastising himself.

He can worry about everything else later. (Like reminding Davis once again to call him T.K., not T—insert any other letter of the alphabet. It's not a hard name to remember.) T.K. got up to his feet in that instant and waved to the group, before turning heel and approached Yolei and Poromon.

"Hey Yolei, what are you doing way over here?" T.K.'s eyes filled with obvious concern.

"Well, I'm not feeling that hungry and I just wanted to sort my thoughts out." She sighed.

"What's on your mind?" T.K. asked.

"It's just that-" She began to tremble, "I'm still just so scared. I don't want this...I don't want to be here."

"I still don't scare you? Do I Yolei?" Poromon asked, worried and concerned.

"No, not at all. You're not scary; in fact I love it when you're around Poromon." She tried to reassure the little digimon in her arms.

Poromon sighed and smiled in relief.

"What is it that scares you Yolei?" T.K. spoke up.

"Well, it's just, this world is kinda scary. Being away from home is scary. I miss my family, heck even all my annoying older siblings, and not having them around...it scares me. But—it's not just that," Her eyes began to tear up, "This whole, _Digidestined_ thing...being some sort of _chosen one_, having to fight evil, away from my home and family...all alone...I don't want this. I may have complained about my life from time to time, but the truth is, I loved being just an average kid. I can't handle this kind of stuff. I'm scared, what if I mess up? What if we never make it home? I'm just not ready and I don't like fighting—I can't do it, I'm not strong like you or Kari or Davis, or even Ken and Cody. They all can put on a brave face, but I just can't, I can't do it...I'm scared, I just want to go home!"

T.K. rested his hand on her shoulder, and gave the girl a small smile. She blinked in confusion, as a few tears fell out of her puzzled eyes.

Of course, it was obvious she was scared, he mentally chastised himself that he didn't realize it right away. But that's okay, her being scared of the Digital World and their destiny is beyond normal. T.K. couldn't help but think of Mimi.

"Yolei, what you're feeling is normal. When I first got to the Digital World, I was about Cody's age, so I didn't understand it as much as the older kids did. At times I was so excited, this world seemed exciting and fun. But other times, it was so frightening, and all I could think about was my parents, or wishing I could just go home. I thought I was too little and weak to do anything—unlike the other kids. But then I began to realize something, I wasn't alone; I had my friends—Tai, Sora, Joe, Mimi, Izzy and my big brother Matt. But more than that, I had my digimon partner, Patamon. And together, we grew as our bond did...and thanks to Patamon and my friends, I then learned, I was stronger than I thought I was." He started to speak.

Yolei frowned, concern still in her eyes. T.K. had let out a sigh, she needed a few more words of encouragement, and T.K. decided he'd be the one to give it to her. So long as she felt at ease, he wouldn't have to worry.

"Being brave doesn't mean fearless...being brave means fighting on even though you're scared. You'll soon realize you're stronger than you think, that digivice chose you Yolei, just like it chose all of us. You're never alone Yolei. You have us, your fellow Digidestined, we're your friends and we stick together. And you have Poromon, and he'll be there for you always." He gave her a big smile, "I know it sounds corny but trust me on this, believe in your friends and never let go of hope, and you'll be able to get through this, no doubt about it."

T.K. couldn't help but let out a chuckle, he started to remember his mother, and the tissues she gave him earlier before he left to meet up with the others (well before him, Kari and the others all got sucked back into the Digital World). He rummaged his hand through his pocket and pulled out the little packet of tissues.

"My mom, she's so weird sometimes, I remember her handing these to me—right before we all ended back here—telling me _just in case_ Matt or I would have allergic sneeze attacks at the park, saying—_there might be a lot of dust or pollen there, you never know. _Though I'm pretty sure I don't need it, you can hang on to them Yolei."

"Thanks T.K., for listening to me...and telling me all that."

Yolei took the tissues from T.K., pulled one out of the packet, and gave a small smile as she dabbed her moist eyes with one. Poromon let out a sigh and a big smile graced his face. He snuggled himself closer to Yolei, the little digimon was obviously a bit relieved to see a smile on her face again, and T.K. grinned back in response.

"Hey, anytime you need to talk to someone, you can always talk to me or Kari, and I'm sure the others would be willing to listen to you as well. We're all a team now." T.K. shoved his hands in his pocket, "You know,I have a friend, Mimi, she had some of the same fears and doubts you did, once Yolei, but she was able to move past that, and you will too."

"Thanks T.K., sounds great, I can't wait to meet her and your other friends, they all sound nice and—" Yolei's sentence was cut off by the sound of her stomach growling...embarrassed, she blushed, "Well look at that, guess I am hungry after all".

"Well then let's go eat with the others." T.K. motioned to Yolei, heading back to the campfire, the lavender haired girl followed after.

* * *

><p>Matt explained <em>most<em> of what was going on to his dad, Matt's dad agreed to explain things to his mother for him. One of Joe's older brothers, Jim, came to take Joe back home and offered the others a ride. Izzy took him up on it for he decided he'd rather go with them instead of getting on one of the crowded buses he took earlier.

Not really having much to do, until tonight—getting ready to leave tomorrow...Tai suggested lunch, Sora, Mimi and Matt all agreed, so they walked a few blocks and stopped at a fast food joint.

Mimi ordered a chicken basket that came with fries, while Matt got a cheeseburger with fries, both got their food and paid. Sora ordered a pepperoni pizza that came with a chocolate shake, while Tai ordered a hamburger with everything on it. Matt noticed the two were still waiting for their orders to be ready.

"Hey Tai, we're gonna go look for seats." He motioned for Mimi to follow with a nudge of his elbow.

"Alright, sounds good." Tai put his change in his pocket.

Mimi nodded and the two soon disappeared, leaving Tai and Sora by themselves for a bit (minus the people in line behind them). Sora began to grab a couple of extra napkins and straws for everyone. Tai just tapped his foot, and fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he waited for their food.

"Tai, you didn't have to pay for my meal." Sora spoke up.

"Yeah...well I wanted to."

The food was done finally, the cashier put both their meals on a single tray. Tai reached over the counter and carefully took the tray from the cashier, gave her a _"thanks" _and a nod, before turning around to go hunt down Mimi and Matt. Sora followed suit, and caught up with Tai. She would not stop staring at him, it unnerved him. It was clear she was trying to get a glimpse of his face.

"How come?" Sora asked, the two walked side by side, she leaned her head a little bit forward to get a better look.

"Just cuz..." Tai immediately turned his head in the other direction, he didn't want Sora to see his cheeks to go from their natural color—to pink.

"I have money you know." Sora noticed Mimi waving at the two of them and motioned to them the seats they saved.

"Yeah well—I —just wanted to be nice. Sorry if being polite bothers you." Tai huffed.

"It didn't bother me Tai, I was just curious...besides, I thought it was very sweet of you." She giggled.

Sora walked on ahead of Tai; sat down next to Mimi, as her friend blabbered to her about something Tai honestly didn't listen to. He shrugged it off, sat down next to Matt. Matt just looked at Sora, before he looked right back at Tai, and gave Tai _"the look", _where he keeps a straight face, minus the one raised eyebrow. Tai lightly elbowed Matt in the chest, before he shot his friend a glare, telling him with his eyes, _"shut up and eat."_

* * *

><p>They finished their lunches and Tai, Sora, Matt and Mimi all headed to the train station. After they have sat on the train for almost fifteen minutes, Mimi realized that Matt missed his stop to head to his house. She didn't say anything about it at first as Sora got off and then Tai got off. He was still there. The rumble of people bustling in and out of the stop was the only sound heard for a bit. Mimi waited til things settled down and the doors closed.<p>

"Matt I couldn't help but notice, you missed your stop." She spoke up.

"Yeah, well Dad's still at work—no point going home to an empty house. And...forget it." He continued to stare out the window.

"What?" Mimi blinked, he didn't answer her though, but it then dawned on her and a grin formed on her face in realization as to why, "Ah-ha...you also wanted to make sure Sora, Tai, and myself—got off on all the right stops alright! Didn't you Matt?"

Matt visibly tensed, "Yeah, well maybe you're right, so what? What's the big deal?" He still refused to turn around and face her.

Mimi looked up, it was her stop, and the doors slid open. Some people bustled out of the trains, it was time for her to go. She rose up to her feet, but stopped in the doorway, as she glanced back at Matt. He finally looked up when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that she hasn't left yet, which was fine, she was waiting for him to look up at her anyway. The train wasn't going anywhere just yet.

"You know Matt, you're a very good friend. It's not a big deal at all, don't be ashamed of it." She waved goodbye.

Matt just sat there for a minute, bewildered, before his face shifted into an annoyed expression.

"_Tch_...easy for _her _to say! Little Miss Blunt—that girl does nothing _but _speak her mind." He muttered under his breath, but then realized Mimi was still there.

"What are you waiting on? Just go home already!" He growled.

Mimi just giggled, and skipped out of the train. It was kind of adorable how Matt concerns himself over his friends, but doesn't like to draw attention to it. She continued to chuckle as she thought about how flushed his face was when he noticed she was still standing there.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Well that concludes this chapter, look forward to an even more exciting next chapter, digivolve—and the others returning to their campsite to enter the Digital World.**

**If you're wondering where the stupid narrator is...remember—he's fired!  
><strong>

**Yes so I finally went in and ship teased Mimato (MimixMatt) and Miyakeru (YoleixT.K.) as well as added in another little Taiora ship tease.**

**I had to add in a scene similar to when in 02, Sora basically says similar things to console Yolei when she loses her resolve, when her and Cody first entered the Digital World. It was, imo, a very profound scene for Yolei. And while Sora isn't there to do it, other than being a slight ship tease moment, I felt T.K. would be the best next thing to talk to her about it, because I felt he would understand it a little bit more, being a Digidestined for a wee bit longer than Kari.  
><strong>

**I want to keep things light with the official couples for now. Keeping things in the friendship stage (with the obvious exceptions of crushes (cough-DAVIS-cough) or hinting of a crush like with Tai and Sora) and develop things from there realistically.**

**Man I'm lucky, I don't have too much homework this week as opposed to normally with college, so I've ACTUALLY been able to have free time to write. (Don't be expecting this many updates in a row—in the future =_= this is clearly a one—time thing, my following school weeks will be FILLED with homework.)**

**Special thanks to my back up beta, Dragon_Wizard91, for doing this for me, in my other betas stead—LithiumRukia. She had a major test to study for (Yes, education, that's important...which reminds me...how is that reading I'm putting off? XD) ha—ha, yeah. Ta for now! **


	4. Devimon Cometh

**Chapter 4: Devimon Cometh  
><strong>

**(Btw, about two more weeks have passed in the Digital World, making the kids about there for a month, it hasn't even been a complete day yet. Tai and the others are probably in the middle of sleeping right now.)**

****_Re-edit Note:__ Okay so 4 chapters down in the re-editing, I still have chapters 5-13 left originally, however I'm going to add 14, and a bit of 15 to that list too, re-reading some of those chapters just don't feel up to my new writing standard. I know some of you are waiting on the update, bear with me, Christmas season was very busy with work, I had a lot on my plate recently, and I just barely started school again, so I moved back up to Idaho, so yeah, had quite the hectic busy life, but ironically it's easier to try to squeeze in writing when I'm just starting school. But then again, it's not my crazy work, and when you first start school, it's not as crazy as mid-terms and finals and project weeks._  
><strong>**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

"Well, well, well..._what_ do we have here Impmon?" A DemiDevimon snickered.

He motioned down with his wing, to the ground below at a group of six human children, with six little digimon with them. The Impmon sitting on the branch across from the DemiDevimon lazily opened on of his eyes, annoyed that his nap was being interrupted. He let out a snort and peered down at to what DemiDevimon was talking about.

"From the looks of it..." He yawned, but then paused when he began to actually observe and pay attention to just what was being pointed out to him, "..._humans?_ You don't think that those are some of them Digidestineds, do you?" Impmon sneered.

"They must be!" DemiDevimon flapped his wings over to the branch Impmon was sitting on.

The four Goblimon who had been snacking on some berries below on the lower branches of the tree, overheard what the other two above had been discussing. One of them looked at the kids and digimon who were making their way through the forest, it seemed the direction they were heading to was Primary Village.

"We should tell Master Devimon about this!" The Goblimon exclaimed, the three other Goblimon behind him nodded their heads in agreement.

While the Goblimon were dumb as rocks, Impmon knew this was the first time these dumb lugs were actually using their brain and remembering the orders their Master gave them. Their Master Devimon had warned them to possibly be on alert for the Digidestineds. According to their Master, the Sovereigns were up to something, and the Dark Ones and the rest of their followers have yet to track down Gennai. While some of the other followers of the Dark Ones were quite confident they've seen the end of the Digidestineds, and would never be returning, their Master Devimon didn't believe that for a second.

He counted on the children returning.

At the first hint of them, he wanted to be ready, and cut them down for good. Not for the sake and orders of the Dark Ones, but for himself. Devimon was after one thing, revenge.

"What—no! Look at that, only two Rookies and four In-Training! This will be a cakewalk! Think of how the Master will reward us!" DemiDevimon grinned.

DemiDevimon always did want to look for the route that would give him the most glory. However Impmon wanted one thing, he didn't care about anything else much really. Yes he didn't want to disobey his master, but he was bored. Bored out of his mind days now. He had waited for the smallest hint of action. And the kids _did _only have puny weak digimon to protect them. It wouldn't be enough action to satisfy his boredom, but, six Rookies vs, their small fry? Yes DemiDevimon had a point, they could take them down, no problem.

Maybe he could even get them to just destroy their little wimpy digimon, and then all six of them could drag the kids back to Infinity Mountain to Devimon. Their Master would probably be forgiving on not reporting first if they just destroyed the Digidestined's partners, and then brought those kids to him, where he can deal with all of them personally.

"Duh, 'dat does sound good, but Master said we only 'posed to scout island, and report back to Master." One of the other Goblimon spoke up.

"You nimwit! Think of it this way, those kids are our enemies. They are what will stand in Master's way, the sooner we get rid of them, the better! Devimon doesn't need to dirty his hands with six rugrats and their puny digimon. He'll bestow us with a great reward if we can get rid of them! They're weaklings! We can take them!" DemiDevimon stamped his foot in impatience.

"Are you sure about this?" Impmon questioned, "I mean, not that tormenting those pipsqueaks doesn't sound like fun and all, I'd just hate to get in trouble with the Master."

Impmon already decided he would like to do it, however a part of him had wanted to avoid getting the Master angry.

"Relax, with all of us ganging up on them, it'll be easy!" DemiDevimon laughed.

"Well, if you say so, I have been kinda bored lately. Perhaps its time for a little...exercise." Impmon chuckled.

"Alright move your smelly butts! Let's get into places to ambush them! Got it?!" DemiDevimon ordered.

The six digimon went around, as fast as they could, to get a head of the humans and their partners. Once they were certain they were far ahead enough, they all spread out and hid in the bushes. Their ambush was ready.

* * *

><p>Davis and Yolei had seemed to argue over the littlest things over the last week. They recently gotten into the dumbest fight over something that T.K. can't even remember what it was about. Thankfully Kari broke up their little fight, but Yolei and Davis seemed to be okay now. T.K. looked back at each of them...and both appeared to be in a good mood. So T.K. figured it was safe to assume they completely gotten over their little argument.<p>

Davis marched a head of the group, with DemiVeemon by his side, as he mimicked Davis's march. Kari looked up at the sky above them, that peaked through the trees, while Salamon napped in her arms. Yolei held Poromon, sandwiched between her side and her left arm, like he was a basket ball, but he didn't seem to mind at all being held that way. T.K. tailed behind her, with Patamon perched on his head, very happy and pleased, as T.K. had given him a nice scratch around the ears.

The two most quiet members, Ken and Cody, remained at the back of the group. Ken was feeding Minomon the last few berries that they picked this morning for breakfast; while Cody stared straight forward, as though he was in deep thought, though if Upamon had to guess, it always seemed like Cody had something on his mind.

Yolei was humming a little tune, Poromon looked up at her confused.

"What are you doing Yolei?" The digimon inquired.

"Oh, nothing I'm just humming a little tune." She giggled, then added, "It is something my mom hums all the time when she's organizing our store, I never did know what song it was, but you know, humming it right now doesn't make me as homesick I suppose."

"Oooh, I see." Poromon answered.

T.K. witnessed the exchange and chuckled silently. It was nice to see Yolei was doing a bit better and trying to be in good spirits about everything. And he would be lying if it wasn't kind of cute to see Poromon try to understand Yolei and all her mannerisms. Though it might be less with Yolei, and more of Poromon (along with the other four new digimon partners of their group) is still trying to learn all they can about humans. These digimon didn't know what half the things they all talk about are, it was, yes, _cute_ to watch them try to learn and understand.

"So we're heading to a place called Primary Village?" Cody asked.

T.K. shifted his attention to the young Cody, rather than to a humming Yolei and her confused Poromon. He smiled down at the young boy and gave him a small nod.

"Yeah, that's where all the digimon are born. A good friend of ours, Elecmon, takes care of Primary village. I figured we could stay with him for a while we wait for Gennai to contact us again." T.K. answered.

Just then Patamon popped his ears up. He narrowed his eyes, as he looked off to the left, something was in the bushes.

"SURPRISE!"

DemiDevimon and brigade popped out of the bushes, the Digidestined all backed up. Their digimon partners all jumped in front of their humans companions, they glared down at the six threats to their partners.

"It's DemiDevimon!" T.K. and Kari exclaimed in unison.

"Huh? Have we met before?"

"Don't play dumb, two years ago you worked with Myotismon—and tried to help him take over the Human world!" Patamon yelled.

"Myotismon? The Real world? Are you sure you kids aren't mixing me up with someone else?"

DemiDevimon did actually sound genuinely confused. T.K., Patamon, Salamon, and Kari realized that this must be a different DemiDevimon.

"Well if you aren't the same DemiDevimon that we've met, then what do you want with us?" Kari asked.

"Simple—_your destruction!_" Impmon laughed. A small fireball appeared at the tip of his finger and, with a flick of his wrist, he aimed it at Kari, "Badda-Boom!"

"Kari look out!"

Davis shoved her out of the way, taking the fire blast himself in his shoulder. The sleeve of his shirt was smoldering. T.K. swatted it many times, thankfully Davis didn't catch fire.

"Davis!" Kari ran up to him, inspected his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" T.K. helped him back up.

Davis winced through a grin, but gave T.K. and Kari the thumbs up. Kari let a breath of air she was holding escape through her nostrils, in relief. T.K. too, let out a breath of relief. Davis didn't seem that hurt, he would probably have a small burn, but he was okay.

"Good to hear...ok guys, if they want a fight let's give it to them!" T.K. shouted.

"Yeah, right with you T.A.!" Davis announced, shaking his fist like some super hero.

"Uhh, Davis...that's T._K._" he sweat-dropped.

* * *

><p>Upamon, Poromon, and Minomon gave it their best effort, but they were swept aside by three of the Goblimon. Impmon was fighting Salamon, while the last Goblimon was fighting with both Patamon and DemiVeemon. Being an In-Training like the other three, poor DemiVeemon didn't stand much of a chance either—being knocked aside by the Goblimon's club. DemiDevimon laughed as he watched all of this from the safety of the trees.<p>

It was obvious the smaller In-Training level digimon were no match for the Rookie level digimon that trounced them.

"DemiVeemon!" Davis ran up ahead, picking up the hurt blue digimon.

"I'm sorry—I'm not very good at protecting you Davis." The little guy looked up at his partner, he held guilt in his eyes.

"Hey don't say that, you did a good job, you're very brave for a little digimon!"

The Goblimon charged at Davis and DemiVeemon.

"Davis watch out!" T.K. shouted.

Davis peered up and grit his teeth, but didn't budge. He held DemiVeemon close to him and glared down at the goblin digimon that charged at the two. DemiVeemon noticed this and hobbled his way out of Davis's grip. He hopped about a foot in front of the boy, and his eyes held a fire similar to Davis's.

"Davis, please get away, I'll continue to show you how brave I am!"

"No, don't! He'll squish you like a bug!" Davis yelled.

But Davis's protests were ignored.

The little blue creature didn't doubt for a second his job to protect his human partner, not even as the larger green creature towered before him, fully intent to do him harm. DemiVeemon wasn't scared for his safety, not when Davis needed protecting.

The Goblimon raised his club, and prepared to strike.

Patamon noticed this, and tried to rush in to help him, only to be tackled by DemiDevimon. Patamon was knocked into the bushes, as DemiDevimon chuckled with glee. He didn't count on Patamon coming back, and hit him square in the forehead, with a good headbutt.

"DemiVeemon!"

Davis screamed even louder, as the club made its move to strike poor DemiVeemon. But just as Davis yelled his partner's name, his digivice began to glow. As did DemiVeemon's body.

"DemiVeemon digivolve to...Veemon!"

In DemiVeemon's place stood a new digimon, a bigger version of DemiVeemon. He caught the club and kicked Goblimon backwards. He turned to Davis with a huge grin, and gave the human a thumbs up.

Davis for the most part was actually silent for a moment.

"What's the matter Davis? Am I too cool looking that you can't even speak?" Veemon laughed.

"...you have a nose now?" Was all Davis could bring himself to say.

"He digivolved!" Kari exclaimed.

"I got more than a nose in this form Davis! Just watch!" Veemon flexed his left arm.

The Goblimon got back up, grabbed the club he dropped when Veemon caught him off guard, and charged Veemon once more. Veemon wiped his nose, a cocky grin wormed its way on his face. He then squatted his knees and took a deep breath.

"V-Headbutt!"

Veemon slammed his head straight into Goblimon's gut. His club flung out of his hand once more, as it flew off into the bushes, his body flew backwards and he crashed into the ground. The digimon was curled over, as he held his gut tightly, and coughed violently. Veemon knocked the wind out of him.

Veemon stood proud and triumphant, hands on both hips and a huge smirk on his face. He turned back around to see Davis, and gave his human and even wider and if possible far more cocky grin then the one he flashed before. The digimon began to flex, quite pleased with his new Rookie form. Davis, for the most part, just stood there, jaw slightly hung open, and eyes that were dumbstruck by "Veemon" and his new-found strength.

_"That's...my little blue dude?_" Davis thought in awe, then exclaimed, "Wow, Demi—_I mean_—Veemon! Go get him!"

Davis's excitement was interrupted as Kari caught his attention. She was obviously worried.

"T.K., Davis—Yolei and the others are in trouble!" Kari shouted in distress.

Yolei and Cody, they noticed, were being chased by two Goblimon. They eventually stopped at a tree that the lavender hair girl, nearly ran into. They felt cornered, as the Goblimon caught up with them. Poromon and Upamon despite being injured, jumped in front of their humans, determined to protect them. The Goblimon were not merciful to the little creatures. The two malicious Rookies beat the little In-Training digimon over and over senselessly with their clubs. It was a one-sided battle that was brutal to witness.

Yolei screamed, and squeezed Cody tightly, as she tried to shield him from the violence. She trembled from head to toe, and either from being up against Yolei, (but most likely not), or out of fear as well, Cody's body mimicked the same response. The Goblimon continuing to trounce their digimon with no remorse.

The two other Goblimon, the ones that fought Veemon (after he ran off to the bushes to retrieve his club), and the one that practically bulldozed Minomon, set their sights also on the cornered humans.

"Yolei I'm scared!" Cody shivered.

Okay, so Cody was frightened after all. That wasn't something you see often, a kid who usually seems so composed. Yolei herself was trembled even more violently as her fear grew, and continued to cling onto the younger boy for dear life.

But then something caught her eye. She saw rocks thrown at the two Goblimon, the one in the front let out a growl.

"Hey ugly! Over here!" Ken shouted.

"Ken! What are you doing?" Yolei yelled.

The Goblimon in the front of the group made chase after Ken. The other three ignored Ken in favor of taking advantage of a cornered Yolei and Cody, and the injured Upamon and Poromon. Veemon tackled the one in the back, the same one he originally had fought.

But T.K. and Davis obviously both had it, at the same time. Both boys charged the Goblimon and attacked them both from behind in a rush. Davis constantly kicked the one Goblimon in the shin before he threw both arms around its neck, it flailed around, attempted to fling the boy off as Davis had it in a choking headlock. But Davis Motomiya was not about to let go.

"Picking on a girl and a little kid? Talk about low!" Davis yelled.

T.K. threw his hat over the face of the Goblimon he jumped, and with his other arm, proceeded to also put it in a headlock.

"You leave our friends alone! Yolei, Cody—run!" T.K. shouted, as he jabbed his knee against the Goblimon's side.

The Goblimon threw the two boys off, T.K. landing on his back, while Davis landed on his face. He immediately shot up and spat up the dirt that ended up in his mouth.

"Yuck!"

The Goblimon pulled their clubs out, intent to do serious harm to the boys. Patamon was too busy in his battle with DemiDevimon, while Veemon preoccupied the fourth Goblimon. Salamon was busy with Impmon. Kari immediately ran to their side, Davis and T.K. both pushed her behind them as the Goblimon raised their clubs above both boy's heads.

* * *

><p>Yolei and Cody watched this all happen in horror, as the two boys were just trying to help them. And Ken and Minomon was also trying to protect them. Their digimon got hurt badly trying to protect them. They just sat there in fear the whole time, both kids felt so powerless.<p>

"_Davis...T.K...Upamon...I hate feeling so helpless, there has to be something I can do!_" Cody thought, bitterly holding back tears.

"_This isn't fair...why are these things coming after us. My friends...please someone—anyone...I'm not a strong person, but please give me strength—I just want to help my friends!_" Yolei thought, held little Cody tighter.

As if there was an answer to their silent prayers, both Yolei and Cody's digivices began to glow, as well as the bodies of Upamon and Poromon. The two stared at them in bewilderment, feeling a warmth radiate from their digivices.

"Poromon digivolve to...Hawkmon!"

"Upamon digivolve to...Armadillomon!"

The two newly digivolved Rookies wasted no time, it was not a time for gawking, they had to protect Yolei and Cody's friends.

Hawkmon took off the feather at the top of his head, sending it flying into the Goblimon that was going after T.K.

"Feather Strike!"

Armadillomon rolled up into a ball, attacking the other that went after Davis.

"Diamond Shell!"

Once they sent the two Goblimon on a crash course with the dirt, did Yolei and Cody stop to take in their digimons' newest forms. Poromon was no longer a floating pink bird head. He was a red and white feathered hawk digimon, and Upamon, well, he was quite literally an armadillo digital monster now!

"Wow...look at them. They—_they're different!_" Yolei stammered out.

"Yeah..." Cody nodded in awe.

* * *

><p>Ken managed to lead the one of the four Goblimon away from Yolei and Cody. He sprinted probably a good twenty-five feet before the Goblimon cut him off and cornered him. Ken held Minomon tightly to his chest. His poor digimon was exhausted, no he'd have to figure out a way to outsmart the Goblimon.<p>

Just as Ken's mind raced to come up with a plan, the Goblimon wasted no time, he raised his club above Ken's head. Little Minomon silently gasped before he wiggled himself free from Ken's grasp. He head-butted the goblin Rookie square in the nose. Goblimon made a sound that sounded like a mix between a growl and a whine, as he clutched his nose. He gave a harsh glare to Minomon, obviously not too pleased.

Minomon breathed heavily, he was very tired, but he refused to budge. He knew his place, between the threat and Ken.

Goblimon let go of his nose and let out a snort, he ignored Ken and the thing trashed the poor little cocoon digimon. Ken watched in horror, cried out for the Goblimon to stop and to leave Minomon alone. Of course it wouldn't listen, it continued to pummel the poor little guy, who was determined to protect Ken.

"K-Ken, please...don't l-let...him g-get you." He struggled to get up; continued fighting Goblimon.

"No! Minomon—_stop!_ You're gonna get yourself killed!" Ken yelled.

Minomon ignored Ken's plea, and the Goblimon prepared to strike once more.

"No, leave him alone!"

Ken's digivice also began to glow, the light from it blinded the Goblimon who backed away-covered its eyes.

Minomon's body began to glow in unison with the digivice. Ken squinted his eyes as he tried to witness what was happening despite the bright light. He noticed Minomon's body began to slightly change shape.

"Minomon digivolve to...Wormmon!"

A little green bug digimon appeared in the place of Minomon, Ken's jaw dropped lightly, and his eyes widened slightly.

"So this is...digivolving?"

"You know...you're quite the rude digimon." Wormmon stated. A white thread shot out of Wormmon's mouth, wrapping around the creature, "Sticky Net!"

Ken and Wormmon remembered the others were in trouble, he and Wormmon turned to each other and nodded. In unison, Ken gave the webbed Goblimon a kick as Wormmon gave it a headbutt.

It went flying before he landed right on top of the Goblimon, Veemon had been fighting.

Ken and Wormmon ran back to the group as fast as they could. Ken noticed the other three previously level, In-Training digimon, all looked different now. Like Wormmon they too had digivolved.

Ken then felt an idea form in his head, as he noticed the two Goblimon who tried to break free from Wormmon's net. He turned to the hawk and armadillo, and what he could assume was a larger version of DemiVeemon. He then glanced back at the other two Goblimon, not caught in the web, who eyed the three new Rookie digimon warily.

"Hey, knock them into these other two!" Ken pointed at the two caught Goblimon.

Veemon gave Ken a thumb's up, then nodded at Hawkmon and Armadillomon. Hawkmon created two feathers from his headband.

"Double Feather Strike!" He launched them like they were boomerangs, at both of the Goblimons.

The two digimon lost their balance, as they stumbled over, slightly disoriented. That's when Veemon and Armadillomon made their move.

"V-Headbutt!"

"Diamond Shell!"

Simultaneously, Veemon slammed his head into the gut of one Goblimon, while Armadillomon rolled up into a little ball—and propelled himself into the gut of the other.

Both Goblimon flew backwards, and crashed into the two sticky Goblimon.

"Now Wormmon!" Ken commanded.

Wormmon gave Ken a nod, as he understood instantly what Ken's plan was. He turned to face all four tangled Goblimon, about to make their entanglement much worse.

"Sticky Net!"

All four Goblimon were now trapped, Impmon and DemiDevimon realize that they are not going to be getting victory any time soon. They let out a big gulp, for all six Rookie digimon combined their attacks on the four captured Goblimon. As the six all cried out their attacks and unleashed their attacks together on the webbed Goblimon, Impmon and DemiDevimon could only watch in horror as their allies dissolved into digi-dust.

* * *

><p>"So you bozos feel like taking on all six of us?" Salamon growled, Patamon and the other four digimon lined up with her.<p>

Impmon and DemiDevimon both glanced at each other, and back at the six digimon, they violently shook their heads. The two turned tail and fled.

"You guys did it!" Yolei shouted happily as she glomped Hawkmon.

The other kids running up to their digimon too. Patamon flew into T.K.'s arms, and he squeezed his digimon tight. Ken scooped up Wormmon and gave him a hug so tight it looked as though he'd never let go. Davis and Veemon gave each other a double high-five. Kari, picked up Salamon and gave her a gentle hug, while Salamon rubbed her cheek against Kari's. Cody got down to his knees as Armadillomon rested his head against Cody's legs. Cody then gave him a small smile as he rubbed the top of Armadillomon's head.

T.K. laughed as Patamon jumped out of his arms, and flew up to the top of T.K.'s hat. It would seem he decided to rest on his head. Yolei continued to squeeze Hawkmon, who complained that Yolei was choking him. Davis grabbed Veemon around the neck, pulled him close, and gave the blue digimon a noogie. Veemon protested but couldn't stop himself from laughing. Salamon jumped down from Kari's arms and nuzzled her face against Kari's legs, who giggled at the action. Armadillomon then smooshed his face against Cody's belly, Cody smile widened a bit, so he scratched Armadillomon's ear in response.

So much laughter and happiness filled the air.

Wormmon however noticed that in the midst of the tight he received from Ken, the boy was shaking.

"Ken are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm just so glad I didn't lose you...that's all." Ken muttered quietly.

Wormmon gave Ken a quizzical look, but the boy didn't elaborate. Instead he drew his attention to the group, who still cheered and chattered with their digimon and amongst themselves.

Wormmon decided to let it go, when Ken was ready to talk to him, he would.

* * *

><p>There was not celebrations and merriment everywhere though...<p>

DemiDevimon and Impmon fled, into a dark cavern on Infinity Mountain. They ran and ran until it took them into the deepest darkest part of the mountain.

Their presence was sensed as the two finally came to a stop at the edge, a large devil-like digimon flew out of the dark pit below in the hollowed mountain. He towered over the two digimon. From the mere sight of their master, DemiDevimon and Impmon dropped down, bowing before the creature and shivered.

Their master sneered at this display, for it meant obviously these two done something wrong, Impmon felt dread bubble up inside him.

"What did you nuisances do this time?" Devimon spoke._  
><em>

"Well you see Master, it's like this, well um..." DemiDevimon dared to look up at his master, only to shut his eyes in shame.

"What?" He scowled.

Devimon began to feel annoyed, he then noticed the four Goblimon he sent with the two weren't there. He felt his annoyance rose as he scowled further.

"Where are the four Goblimon I sent with you to scout the island?" He asked in a calm monotone.

His did his best to mask his fury. He held a suspicion as to why, but it's best to confirm first before he made these two sorry if what he suspected is true.

"Well you see, they were destroyed." Impmon bravely looked up into his master's eyes.

He did not hang his head down and shut his eyes tight, in shame, like the other one was doing. It was obvious to Devimon he'd get straight answers from this servant, unlike the other one.

Impmon tried to stand in full attention, but it was obvious from the look in his eyes, he was very afraid.

"Well...you see, we were...battling...human children and their digimon friends who protected them." Impmon did his best, as he fought back a gulp.

"_What!?_ Human children are here and you two didn't tell me?" Devimon roared, the two rookie digimon cowered, as they bowed before their angry master.

"There are only six of them Master." DemiDevimon spoke up, but he still hung his head down in shame, with his eyes glued shut, as his body trembled in fear, "We were certain that we could take them all and besides-"

"And who gave you such orders to do so? I don't remember giving such orders!" Devimon admonished, rage dripped from his voice.

He could not mask his fury any longer, DemiDevimon become more pathetic by the second, and he lost what little patience he had left with his underling.

"I'm sorry master, we shamed you. It was a terrible idea, we should have come to you first with your counsel on how you wanted to proceed! Because of our rash actions, we cost you four of your servants! We have no excuse. We deserve punishment!" Impmon exclaimed as he tried to remain in stiff attention as possible, but at the same time, he bowed his head in respect.

His master was furious, and the only thing that would possibly save him from Devimon's wrath was to offer himself at Devimon's complete mercy. His master never tolerates failure, but one thing he also tolerated less was uncooperative subordinates—and made nothing but excuses for themselves. And while Devimon relished in fear, if you made excuses for yourself while you groveled, you'd get no sympathy for him.

They all watched recently, ever since they came into Devimon's service, those who did just that. Impmon knew the two of them were without a doubt goners, but if he displayed the right amount of humility and fear, and gave the impression that he'd never repeat such actions and be any useful source of information his master would want, he could possibly be spared. But if DemiDevimon keeps up what he's doing, there would be no such hope for him.

* * *

><p>Devimon, for his part, felt himself slightly less annoyed with Impmon. It seemed at least one of his failure servants understood the meaning of humility.<p>

"And what do you have to say for yourself DemiDevimon?" His icy glare, pierced down on the little winged creature.

"It was all Impmon's fault! I knew it was a bad idea from the start master, but he wouldn't listen to me!" DemiDevimon groveled.

"What?! That is the biggest load of bull and you know it!" Impmon hissed back.

"Silence!"

Both of them immediately bowed and shut up.

"DemiDevimon, you have shown a poor display of following my orders, and you dare to act this pathetic as you lie in my presence?! You have sealed your fate!" He roared.

"But Master, I-"

"Darkness Gaze!"

A black laser beam shot out of Devimon's eyes and vaporized DemiDevimon where he stood.

He turned to a quaking Impmon, who when he realized his master had now looked at him, he gulped and did his best to try to stop shivering and stand at full attention.

"Tell me everything you can about these children and the digimon with them. Your humility has spared you your life today Impmon, depending on how useful I find your information, I might even reward you, and give you a second chance—to get your revenge on those children."

"Those children appeared to be Digidestineds, there were six of them...they had those devices—that made their digimon, digivolve. That's how they were able to beat us." Impmon explained.

"Six of them?"

Curious, there were seven when he first encountered them, and all information from his great masters, The Dark Ones, helped restore him to former glory and even given him new powers; they told of him there were eight Digidestineds now, since the time of his defeat. They also informed him that they shouldn't have to worry about the Digidestineds because they arranged for a way to have that threat neutralized and made it so the children couldn't return.

But then again, _one_ of the Dark Ones had their suspicions...it warned Devimon and their other key followers, that he suspected despite being weakened, and their powers drain with each day, that the Sovereigns were up to something. He suspected that there was a chance they'd find a way to bring the Digidestineds back here and restore their powers somehow.

"Yes Master, six of them. Six digimon and six humans." Impmon answered.

"Describe them to me."

"Well, there was a boy with auburn hair and he had goggles on his head, there was a Veemon with him. And a boy with blond hair and a hat, he was protected by a Patamon. Another boy with dark hair, the Wormmon was with him. And a girl, she had short light brown hair, she was aided by a Salamon. The other girl had lavender hair and glasses, her protector was the Hawkmon. Those kids all looked to be about the same age, minus the sixth one. A little boy with brown hair, he appeared to be the youngest. And his protector was an Armadillomon." Impmon expounded.

Five of the six didn't sound familiar at all to him. Though the girl with the Salamon suspiciously sounded a lot like the "eighth child" he was informed about. None of the others fit the description of the other children. Minus that one boy with goggles, except the boy he's remembered had brown hair, and an Agumon with him.

That would mean...there are four new Digidestineds. This news disturbed him slightly. And where were the other six that he remembered? Did the Sovereigns had them hiding out somewhere?

But no matter, he'll deal with the six on hand now.

At least one thing about this news pleased him. A blond-haired boy, wearing a hat, with a Patamon. Oh yes, he could only guess all to well who that was. His devilish smirk practically grew from ear to ear.

It seemed, he would personally have his revenge.

"Without their Crests, this should be easy. Would you like to redeem yourself Impmon?" Devimon chuckled.

"Oh yes Master, I would give anything for a second chance!"

"Then accept my power!" He sent dark energy into the Impmon.

Impmon's body glowed black, as his body transformed into a slightly smaller version of Devimon, and instead of black all over, he was white. He was digivolved into IceDevimon.

"This form you find will serve you with more power, but of course, not as much power as me."

"This power? Thank you Master. I won't let you down." The newly digivolved IceDevimon bowed.

"See to it that you don't. Go round-up the Vilemon and also fetch Fugamon. We're going to end the Digidestineds here and now." Devimon's dark laughter echoed through the hollow mountain.

* * *

><p>It started to become sunset, as the group of six children and digimon continued back on their track to Primary Village before that interruption.<p>

Things got a bit quiet amongst the group, and T.K. wasn't sure why, but it kind of unnerved him. The girls weren't talking, and even Davis and Veemon were quiet. It just unsettled him. He felt it, he didn't know why, he couldn't help it, but he felt something was wrong. Maybe everyone else did too and that's why they were quiet. Or maybe he'd over-thought this too much.

"Ok guys, were almost there, should be a few more-" T.K. stops, Patamon pulling him away from the path as six Vilemon and what looks like an orange Ogremon appear.

T.K. and Kari recognized the Vilemon, from when they fought Piedmon two years ago.

"Those are Vilemon, but what is that digimon, Salamon? He kinda reminds me of Ogremon." Kari asked.

"That's Fugamon, he's a Champion level digimon, we need to watch out." Salamon was on her guard.

* * *

><p>Patamon noticed T.K.'s body began to tremble in...anger, yes it was anger. There was no question, when Patamon looked in T.K.'s eyes, it was...no...that wasn't anger.<p>

It was different, something he never saw in T.K., it was hate. Hate was in T.K.'s eyes.

"T.K.?" Patamon whispered.

"It's..._him_." T.K. whispered back, it was obvious from the venom that dripped in his tone on the second word, T.K. was filled with anger.

Of the hate-kind. He'd seen T.K. angry before, but not like this, and not filled with...such hate.

Patamon peered up to see what T.K. had seen, and he gasped. Further down the base of the mountain-side, there was a white-looking Devimon. An IceDevimon. But that was not what caught Patamon by surprise, it was the digimon behind him. Up a bit higher on the mountain base.

It was the real deal...Devimon.

Patamon could feel it down to his Digital Code, this wasn't just any run of the mill Devimon. It was _him_, that Devimon. The one who he killed, and caused him to die from expelling so much energy just to kill him.

It shouldn't be a shock, after all, Patamon was able to be reborn, like all digimon that die in the Digital World, but...when evil digimon die, their Data is banished, to darkest regions unknown, untouched, impossible for them to return. At least not without outside help.

Of course...

The Dark Ones...

"It's Devimon!" T.K. spat out.

Everyone peered up to where T.K. pointed. And they all eyed their newest adversary with worry. None of them, not even Kari, knew Devimon and truly everything he was capable of. Sure T.K. and himself told the group a few stories, but they didn't get into the details, just the basic summary of what happened. It was obvious to Patamon T.K. didn't like talking about it too much.

"Well what do you know, a Patamon, which means, that blond boy is the small one from before—the Digidestined of Hope, that means the other one is the Digidestined of Light. All of you listen...I want four of you to focus on the other four children. The rest of us can deal with the other two children, with the Patamon and the Salamon. Understood?" Devimon stated.

* * *

><p>"Patamon, you gotta digivolve!"<p>

"You too Salamon!"

T.K. and Kari's digivices glowed, Patamon and Salamon both digivolved to their Champion level.

"Salamon digivolve to...Gatomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!"

"Whoa! Patamon just turned into an angel!" Davis shouted.

Kari and T.K. didn't pay heed to Davis's excitement. She turned to her best friend, she could tell his nerves were beyond the point of stressed.

As Gatomon attacked one of the Vilemon, the cat Champion hopped on it's back, as it flailed around—tried to fling her off but to no avail.

Angemon headed straight for Devimon, but was stopped by IceDevimon and the other of the two Vilemon, Devimon ordered to hang back, in order to deal with Gatomon and Angemon.

"Avalanche Claw!"

IceDevimon shot multiple shards of ice from his wings. Angemon deflected and batted them away with his angel staff. Vilemon tried to attack Angemon from behind, but he luckily flew out of the way. He battled both the IceDevimon and Vilemon at the same time.

Kari at first wondered why Angemon held back his strength, when he had become powerful enough to even fight against Ultimate level digimon. But then she noticed, even though he was fighting two digimon in front of him, Angemon never kept his focus off Devimon.

Angemon had been waiting then, to see what move Devimon would make. A smart move in her opinion, because a digimon like that, you obviously can't trust to fight fair.

But Kari stopped her thoughts on that matter, she was not as concerned to what Devimon might do as she was for her all her friends, one of them (T.K.) looked like he was about to explode.

"This is bad Kari, there's a lot of digimon—and the looks of it all champion level. We're outnumbered and Davis and the others' digimon haven't reached Champion yet. They only just barely digivolved to Rookie level today." T.K. growled, "And this is the same Devimon from before!"

T.K. voiced the fears that she held quietly in her head. digimon that first learn to digivolve to one level, generally don't have them in them to do it again to the next level—their energy hasn't adapted to that point usually. Digivolving for the first time like that at two levels, twice in one day, is something unheard of from their experience. And they were still outnumbered. Their Crest powers didn't work anymore. (Not that Davis and the others had Crests.) The odds were against them. Plus, this Devimon was a former enemy of the group before she became a Digidestined.

From what she was told, not even the power of Greymon, Birdramon, Kabuterimon, Garurumon, Ikkakumon and Togemon combined weren't enough to stop him. And it took a newly digivolved Angemon _all of his energy_, just to put Devimon down, to the point that he too lost the strength to live. His digital body had to reincarnate itself again from after that battle.

The odds definitely were not in their favor right now.

"You mean the evil digimon you guys fought when you first came here." Kari looked up at Devimon, the mere sight of him made her skin crawl.

"Yeah...that's him." T.K. uttered bitterly.

* * *

><p>"What are you four sitting around for? I thought I told you to go after the others, not gawk and watch this battle." Devimon ordered the other four Vilemon.<p>

They scrambled around, and instantly set their sights on Davis, Yolei, Ken and Cody.

One of them tried to grab Cody, but Yolei shoved him into the bushes and it grabbed her instead. In the confusion, Armadillomon jumped in after Cody, and urged the younger boy to run. Despite the boy's instincts to stay behind and try to help, the boy reluctantly followed Armadillomon's instructions, but only because the moment he stood back up, Armadillomon kept nudging him in the leg, and because Yolei screamed for him to run.

He didn't want too, but one look in her eyes when she got grabbed, was enough to send Cody to do against everything in his nature told him not to do. He took off with Armadillomon.

Two of the Vilemon grabbed Ken and Davis in the confusion. Veemon and Wormmon grabbed the Vilemon by the legs, but they kicked the Rookie digimon off and all three Vilemon began to fly the three kids into the air, while the fourth Vilemon chased Cody and Armadillomon into the woods.

Hawkmon flew after the Vilemon that grabbed Yolei, he was frantic. He tried to peck the digimon in the eyes. But the Vilemon dogdged and laughed off the attempt.

Kari and Gatomon tried to run out and help Cody, But the Vilemon blocked their way. It grinned and chuckled at the girl and cat digimon. Kari hastily turned to T.K. and Angemon, and hoped some better assistance would come from them.

She shook her head, and tried to make her way around the Vilemon, maybe Gatomon could distract it, and she could at least somehow find a way to help Cody. Without her Crest, there isn't much she could do for Ken, Yolei, or Davis. Gatomon can't fly. Angemon was in battle with two digimon, and at the same time kept a watchful eye on Devimon. There wasn't much she felt she could do.

She wasn't the brave, confident, fearless, leader, like Tai. She wasn't someone who took care of everyone, like Sora. She wasn't Mr. Reliable and Mr. Dependable, like Joe. She wasn't the friendly girl who won over the hearts of all digimon they came across and gathered allies, like Mimi. She wasn't the loyal, protective and strong, like Matt. She wasn't the computer genius who always managed to find the answer to all their problems, like Izzy.

She was just Kari. Cute sweet little sister of Tai Kamiya...Kari. But she had to at least try to do something for Cody. If Gatomon can hold off that Vilemon long enough for her to reach Cody, maybe, she wasn't sure, but maybe she'd figure out a way to help the boy to safety.

She ran as fast as her legs could take her. She prayed silently that they would at least all make it out of this alright.

But it seemed other plans were in mind.

The Vilemon appeared out of nowhere, cut her off from her dash. It grabbed her, and sneered at Gatomon who soon followed after. It held up its claws to Kari's neck, which stopped Gatomon in her tracks.

She hissed at the Vilemon. Gatomon while wished to aid Kari's friends, it was apparent, she would always be more concerned about Kari's safety. Kari never felt more useless, she managed to get grabbed, she couldn't even do something as simple as at least ensure Cody could possibly escape to safety. Have a fighting chance. Like Joe, and Sora, both did their best, and tried their hardest, when Piedmon was chased them those years ago. Even if Izzy and Sora still got captured, that didn't stop Joe. And even if she had no digimon to protect her, that didn't stop Sora to give her and T.K. at least the chance to escape.

Why couldn't she be like them, the older kids. She held in a silent cry. She hated feeling like this. She wished she could be more like her brother...she wished he could be here. He'd know what to do.

She looked up and saw Davis and the others. Even though Hawkmon was no match, he still tried and tried to help Yolei.

She then saw Davis bit the arm of the Vilemon that held onto him. While the Vilemon hissed in pain, it didn't let go of Davis. When Davis released his teeth from the digimon's arm, he then looked down seriously at Veemon and Wormmon (but not before he spat a bunch as he complained that the Vilemon stunk and tasted like garbage).

"Veemon, no matter what it takes, don't be afraid to fight! Don't worry about me! I trust you! Take them down!" He shouted down.

Kari eyes widened. She couldn't help but feel it. Davis's courage.

While Davis was very different most of the time, there were still just as many times, he held the same traits as her brother. It was funny, Kari looked up to her brother, she idolized him. She didn't have those same feelings when it concerned her friend (he was no brother of hers of course), but it didn't change the fact, that she was impressed with her friend.

Davis often boasted how, like her, Tai was his hero.

Kari frowned inwardly again. Davis was doing a better job living up to Tai's image than she was. No...she'd have to be doing exactly what Davis is doing. She had to be brave, she couldn't feel sorry about herself right now.

Davis wasn't feeling pity at his powerlessness at the moment, he was still trying to fight that Vilemon even now. And encouraged Veemon to do the same despite if he could get hurt too.

"_I have to be strong and brave right now, like Davis, there is no time to let myself feel sorry about myself_." Kari thought to herself.

She almost wanted to laugh. Davis was always the class clown. The arrogant kid in her class that never shut up about soccer, who always acted so silly and goofy around her. The boy who while boasting about how he's gonna some day become as awesome as Tai, was clumsier than Joe. He was a silly, funny kid, who was an air-head, and needed a tutor for almost all his classes.

Yet here she was, she wished at this moment to be more like Davis. But even despite all of his faults, Davis was Davis, he was a fighter. So yes, she did, she wished for Davis's strength.

"Gatomon!" Kari called, "Show him what happens when you make a cat mad!"

Gatomon looked taken aback for a spilt second, but grinned and gave Kari a quick nod.

"Don't even think about it kitty-"

"Lightning Claw!"

Gatomon gave the Vilemon a good scratch on his left arm, it would have taken his whole arm off, had the Vilemon not attempted to move away.

The force and pain of the scratch was enough for it to release Kari. Kari immediately bolted in the direction for Cody and Armadillomon.

"Gatomon, you have to keep him busy!" Kari cried out.

"Don't worry, I'm not letting him get away from me this time!"

Gatomon didn't like that Kari went after Cody, when another Vilemon chased after the boy. It ate at her inside, she wanted to protect Kari at all times.

But at the same time, she knew she had to at least try to have faith in Kari. Besides, Kari wouldn't ever get over it, if Gatomon made her stay in one spot just so she can keep an eye on her, while her friends were in danger.

* * *

><p>"Hand of Fate!" Angemon released his holy blast from his right fist, the attack vaporized the Vilemon that he battled.<p>

Wormmon fired another one of his sticky webs, but two strings of it, this time as it stuck to the legs of the Vilemon that grabbed Davis and Ken. Veemon and Wormmon tried pulling on the web threads, in hopes that they could pull the Vilemon down. But the two Vilemon slashed the web strings, with the claws on their feet. They proceeded to fly up higher, where the reach of Wormmon's webs can't get to them.

The other Vilemon kicked Hawkmon in the head, and he was briefly knocked out, the bird tumbled towards the ground.

"Hawkmon!" Yolei screamed.

Veemon and Wormmon jumped up and thankfully caught the disoriented bird. But Yolei, Davis, and Ken were too far out of reach, the Vilemon flew up too high where Veemon and Wormmon were practically useless to help.

"Angemon! Stop those Vilemon! They're gonna drop the others-" T.K. shouted to his digimon.

But before T.K. and Angemon could even blink, Fugamon took jumped into action, away from Devimon. He attacked Angemon from behind.

"Evil Hurricane!" Fugamon cried as a small tiny hurricane was launched from his club.

Angemon managed to notice the attack in time, and batted it aside with his staff. Fugamon aimed his attack again, but this time, at Veemon, Wormmon, and Hawkmon.

"Evil Hurricane!"

"Look out!" T.K. yelled.

But the three Rookies weren't able to react in time. The blast of the mini hurricane attack sent all three, on one-way ticket, straight into a tree. The tree broke in half from impact, and the Rookies fell to the bushes below.

Davis, Yolei and Ken all screamed the names of their digimon in horror. Davis himself flailed and kicked and screamed, despite it would do him no good.

Fugamon and IceDevimon kept their attention back on Angemon, and continued to engage him in battle.

"Sorry T.K. it looks like I have my hands full..."

T.K. gritted his teeth. Devimon's plan was obvious. Kill the ones who couldn't fight back with the runts, first. And focus his more attention on Gatomon and Angemon, being that they were Champions. But the most attention was focused on Angemon. He clearly wanted to slow Angemon down.

* * *

><p>Wormmon, Hawkmon and Veemon, popped out of the bushes, and shook off their pain and disorientation. They looked up and cried out in horror, as the Vilemon flew Yolei, Ken and Davis even higher into the sky.<p>

"Let us go you...you..._ugly, stupid, fang-faced freaks!_" Davis kicked and shouted.

"You are very annoying little whelp...and not a very nice kid, but you want to go down?" The Vilemon chuckled.

"_Me and my big mouth. Jun always said it would be the end of me._" Davis thought, and pictured his older sister nagging at him right at that very moment, "_Well enjoy life from now on as an only child, sis._"

"Ok, down you go!" The Vilemon dropped Davis, as gravity pulled him down at an all too lethal velocity.

"Davis!" Ken and Yolei both screamed.

"Hey look at 'dat boys, looks like 'dese kids want to join their friend, how sweet!?" The Vilemon that dropped Davis cackled.

"Friends forever, even till death!" The two Vilemon dropped Ken and Yolei—allowed them to plummet to the ground.

The three kids screamed as their digimon and T.K. all shouted their names in horror. Davis, Yolei and Ken all closed their eyes, waited for the inevitable.

Wormmon, Hawkmon, and Veemon screamed even louder.

And just when hope seemed lost, three bright lights, erupted from the digivices of the three falling preteens. Their digimon glowed a brilliant light, began to change shape and get bigger.

"Veemon digivolve to...ExVeemon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to...Aquilamon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to...Stingmon!"

The moment Davis opened his eyes, he saw he's been caught by a larger version of Veemon...with wings!

"Veemon? That really you?"

Yolei does the same, seeing she's on the back of a large, red, horned bird.

"Hawkmon...you saved me. And you got huge again, well huger."

Ken, was caught in the arms of a green insectoid digimon.

"W-Wormmon?"

Everyone was shocked, from those three, to Angemon and T.K., to Devimon's henchmen. Even Devimon was slightly taken aback.

"That—That's impossible. They digivolved. They digivolved for the first time—to their next level—again! Twice in one day!" T.K. echoed mostly to himself in surprise.

But it was unheard of. Digivolving for the first time took a lot of energy. Only Agumon was the only one able to do it on the same day all their digimon first digivolved to Rookie (the day they first arrived), but that was only because Agumon ate food, gaining the energy he needed.

Nobody had a digimon first digivolve to one level, then the next again, in the same day, and the digimon had nothing like food to help them achieve that like with Agumon and Tai. Yes the human partner had to be in danger in order for the digimon to digivolve, but the other factor is they needed energy, like food and well rest. They hadn't had any snack breaks in between either of these battles.

T.K. could imagine Izzy would have a field day to try to figure out how it happened and why.

But it made T.K. wonder more about the things Gennai told him and Kari, the night they got back—repeated the same message he apparently gave Matt and the others. Davis and them were new Digidestineds these Sovereigns called. Was there something slightly more special about their digimon now? Or were all six of them, their digimon were that way? It just confused T.K. the more he tried to think about it.

Whatever the reason he was glad at least it happened.

* * *

><p>"Yep but I'm called ExVeemon in this form, Davis." He explained as he set Davis back on the ground.<p>

"And I'm called Aquilamon now in this form, not Hawkmon." The large champion bird landed on the ground, Yolei hopped off.

"Just call me Stingmon for now, Ken." The insect set Ken back down with the other two kids.

The three all blinked at each other, then back up at their now Champion digimon.

"Wow you guys all look so cool!" Davis exclaimed.

"Wow, you must of been drinking plenty of milk, you guys are huge!" Yolei gleamed.

"No milk here, just good old-fashion digivolving...thanks to you three." Aquilamon mused to his female companion.

ExVeemon grinned and nodded in agreement. Aquilamon looked up and glared at the three Vilemon in the sky. Stingmon rested his hand on Ken's shoulder before he let go and turned his attention also up to the Vilemon. ExVeemon looked up at them and let out a growl.

"If you'll excuse us, we have some trash to take out." Stingmon flew into the sky, Aquilamon and ExVeemon followed.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Vilemon that had Cody and Armadillomon on the run, finally caught up with them and cornered them.<p>

Armadillomon was just not strong enough to protect Cody, but he'll be darned if he doesn't try.

"Diamond Shell!" Armadillomon attempted his attack.

But the Vilemon swatted away the Rookie that was rolled up into a ball and cackled. When Armadillomon tried to get up, the Vilemon stepped on him, and wiggled his foot over the top of Armadillomon's back, as he pressed the armadillo creature against the ground, while he howled harder in laughter.

"Armadillomon!" Cody cried out.

"Stupid puny digimon, I eat weaklings like you for breakfast!" The Vilemon boasted, "Then again, that human of your's looks pretty _tasty_, I wonder what little puny humans taste like!"

He snatched Cody with one hand. The boy kicked and struggled, but there was no way he was strong enough to break out of the digimon's grip.

"No, Cody! Leave him alone!" Armadillomon shouted, but still couldn't break free from under Vilemon's foot.

"Time for a snack!" The Vilemon snickered.

"Armadillomon! Help me!" Cody cried out as his digivice glowed.

Kari finally arrived and gasped at what she started to witness. The digimon under Vilemon's foot began to glow too. He dropped Cody and backed away as the figure grew and it's form changed shape.

"Armadillomon digivolve to...Ankylomon!"

An Ankylosaurus type digimon appeared in the place Armadillomon once stood.

"A-Amazing, he digivolved again." Kari muttered in awestruck, she shook off her amazement when she remembered Cody, she ran up to the little boy and grabbed him by the arm, helped him back up to his feet.

Ankylomon growled at the Vilemon and turned his body around, and Vilemon noticed the very threatening-looking spike-club at the end of the dinosaur digimon's tail.

"Uh-oh...this is gonna hurt." The Vilemon mumbled.

"Tail Hammer!"

Ankylomon swung it around, his spike-clubbed tail slammed into the Vilemon. Its body bursted into data—flew and dissolved into the air.

"Armadillomon, or Ankylomon! Whoever you are—you did it!" Kari exclaimed.

Cody ran away from Kari's side, and hugged the dino digimon's leg. He immediately let go of the Champions leg, backed up a little, and slightly lowered his head into a small bow.

"You saved me, thank you."

"Aw, don't mention it Cody. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." Ankylomon smiled.

Cody then remembered Kari was there, and turned his attention to the girl.

"Kari what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I came because I was worried and hoped I could at least be of some help, but I can see that your digimon has you covered and-"

Kari all of a sudden froze and slightly shivered, all of a sudden. Cody didn't understand what went on, he blinked and raised both brows slightly as he peered up at the preteen, confusion in his expression.

"Kari?"

* * *

><p>It was an odd sensation for her to say at the least. It was sort of like, she had a dream, but she couldn't see the dream, it was fuzzy. It lacked clarity, like a dream that you were trying to remember but can't quite picture it, yet she had it right in that moment. She heard voices, people shouted in fear and anger, and Devimon's laughter, it was fuzzy, but she could at least pick out that.<p>

She shook her head, and noticed Cody and Ankylomon again, who both stared at her with both worry and curiosity in their eyes.

She wasn't sure how she could explain the sensation she just had to Cody, she didn't understand it herself. But all she knew was that she had a bad feeling.

"I don't like this, I'm getting a bad feeling, we should go back to the others right now." Kari exclaimed as she regained her composure.

Cody nodded in agreement and placed his hand on Ankylomon's neck.

"Our friends probably need us! Let go help them!"

"You got it Cody, both of you, climb onto my back and hold on tight!" He crouched down as Cody and Kari climbed on, and hung on tightly.

Ankylomon powerful legs took off with such force that it nearly caused both kids to lose their balance, but they hung on, he ran fast.

* * *

><p>Kari saw Gatomon and the Vilemon she battled, Gatomon did not go easy on it. It looked seriously worn out. Gatomon then noticed Kari, when their eyes met, a different feeling reignited an even stronger fighting spirit in Gatomon.<p>

She took her anxiety of not being by Kari's side to watch and protect her, out on the Vilemon. Her frustration and protective nature was her fuel. But now here Kari was. She was safe and sound.

The new fuel for her fighting spirit, was that of relief and happiness to see Kari was okay. With that feeling, Gatomon's claw had glowed a bright yellow, even brighter than any previous attack before.

"Lightning Claw!"

She aimed it for the Vilemon's head. Her attack at its strongest, it instantly disintegrated the Vilemon's head when she scratched it with her claw, the rest of its body soon slowly deleted itself after.

"Wow, Gatomon I've never seen you attack like that before!" Kari exclaimed.

"Seeing you okay, made me want to take him down even more."

Cody's face lit up, and Kari looked over and realized why. Her face lit up too. Yolei, Ken and Davis, they were safe and sound on the ground again, and not in the clutches of the Vilemon. (And their digimon digivolved again also, like Ankylomon.)

"Davis and the others made it out okay...thank goodness." Kari sighed in relief.

Cody, Kari, Ankylomon, and Gatomon's attention was then interrupted when they saw the battle in the sky. The three newly digivolved champions were in combat with the last three of the Vilemon. Kari also noticed that Angemon still had to contend with IceDevimon and Fugamon; and at the same time, tried to keep a constant eye on Devimon, and what he was up too.

"Gatomon, lend Angemon a hand." Kari frowned and glanced down at Gatomon.

Her gaze held a slightly more feistier look than Gatomon was used to see on Kari. But it didn't matter. She complied, and snuck her way over to where Angemon was in battle.

Cody hopped off Ankylomon and got behind Kari.

"Ankylomon, you should go see if you can help too." Cody instructed.

Ankylomon nodded, and watched the battle very carefully...assessed when the best moment for him to jump in would be.

The last of the Vilemon meanwhile, it was plain to see they wouldn't hold up any longer. They were simply no match for ExVeemon, Stingmon and Aquilamon.

"X-Laser!" An X shape light fired out of ExVeemon's chest—incinerating the evil digimon.

"Spiking Strike!" The Vilemon gets stabbed with the energy stinger on Stingmon's arm, exploding it into bits of data.

"Grand Horn!" Red lasers fire out of Aquilamon's horns, turning the Vilemon into dust.

Gatomon, snuck up behind Fugamon, latched onto his face, the digimon didn't notice that Ankylomon was behind him. And Ankylomon sent him on a crash course with the base of Infinity Mountain, with his Tail Hammer attack, once Gatomon hopped off onto Ankylomon's back.

The group of children all cheered. And Davis, Yolei and Ken ran over towards Cody and Kari. Yolei squeezed Cody, and Davis flailed in excitement how "awesome" all the digimon have become, especially expressed his excitement towards Kari, _especially_ about _his_ digimon.

* * *

><p>It seemed the tables finally turned in their favor. T.K. grinned up at Devimon who was no doubt displeased.<p>

"Looks like your plans to take us out have been fizzled—Devimon!" Davis boasted with a smug grin.

Not that T.K. could blame Davis on feeling smug, after all, he himself had felt a bit smug now.

Devimon had let out a small, quiet chuckle, which then gradually erupted into a loud, dark and unsettling laughter. T.K. wasn't gonna lie, that laugh had made his skin crawl.

"So you took out some weak pawns, do you want to pat yourselves on the back for it?" Devimon mocked.

He then looked square directly at T.K., ignored Davis and the others. T.K. didn't let it show, but it made his spine shiver the moment Devimon looked directly at him. It was a look of pure hate, and contempt. It was a look that made T.K. feel small, like he was nothing but an insect. He refused to let Devimon see that he unnerved him and made him feel that way with just one look.

* * *

><p>"I've grown stronger since our last battle, <em>small one.<em> You're all welcome to try to destroy me though." Devimon laughed, and spat out his nickname he'd grown accustomed to address the younger brother of the boy with the Garurumon as.

Because that's all he was. Small...

Even now that will never change. They were all beneath him, but that...child and his pet angel especially! He would make certain to remind them of that.

He sent a telepathic order to the two minions that were last standing.

"_All these children need to be eliminated. The two of you, take care of the other children, including the girl of Light. Do whatever it takes to make those children suffer, I'll make things easier for you, but make sure you take them down. Leave the Digidestined of Hope—to me, I have a personal score to settle with him and the Angemon."_

"You forget, the Digidestineds also got stronger since our last battle with you, and we even added a few members since then too!" The blond boy shouted.

"You have no power...not anymore child." Devimon scoffed._  
><em>

* * *

><p>A dark aura surrounded IceDevimon and Fugamon, they all backed away slightly, for they sensed that it couldn't be good.<p>

"He...made them stronger somehow..." Kari breathed.

"Who did?" Davis raised an eyebrow.

"Devimon..." Kari explained.

"How do you know they're stronger?" Davis inquired.

Once again, Kari found it hard to explain.

Sensing something was amiss was not the same as actually having a...sense, a feeling, of their power and it growing in darkness. She noticed quite clearly that what she "felt"...concerning Devimon's henchmen, was not the same as what everyone else "felt". They were different.

"I just...isn't it obvious?" Was all she thought of to say.

"...well I guess?" Davis shrugged it off.

* * *

><p>IceDevimon attacked ExVeemon, Stingmon and Gatomon, while Aquilamon and Ankylomon fought with Fugamon. Both of those digimon got faster, and juiced up more in prowess. It was clear Devimon more than ever, did do something to them, so that way he'd gain an advantage again.<p>

Angemon was not afraid though, he charged Devimon. Devimon moved to grab Angemon with his long demon-like arms, as they gave off a dark aura. But Angemon's own hands glowed a divine white. As they locked hands, black and white sparks flew from their hands. It was dark evil power vs divine good power. And they were evenly matched.

"Come on Angemon." T.K. whispered.

Ankylomon and Aquilamon, with combined effort, finally took out Fugamon. Aquilamon blasted him from above, while Ankylomon slammed him from the ground. His data dissolved into thin air.

"Great now you two should go help—_huh?!_" Yolei whipped her head around every way.

But Devimon disappeared.

"What?" Ankylomon looked around in every direction, "Where did that ghoul go?"

"Keep your guard up!" Aquilamon shouted.

"Where are you?" Angemon frowned.

He didn't like this one bit. One minute Devimon was right in front of him, the next, he just vanished without a trace. He's close by though, Angemon can feel it. But where...?

He took a breath and focused on that dark presence, he had to zero in on it.

Angemon sensed the dark presence—near the children..._near T.K._

"T.K. behind you!" Angemon screamed.

* * *

><p>T.K. gasped, his eyes widened in fear as his face went pale, Devimon appeared right behind him from out of the ground. T.K.'s whole body froze up like a deer caught in headlights. His mind told him to move, but his body wouldn't budge.<p>

"Look out!" Ken screamed.

Ken ran so fast, that no one noticed him when he was right next to T.K., he shoved the blond preteen out of the way just in time. And he instead, got stabbed through his chest with the devil digimon's ghostly hand.

"Ken!" Everyone shouted as Ken dropped to the ground.

No drop of blood on him, or any visible injury seen, but his eyes looked lifeless and his breath was short—panting for air.

"Ken, say something!" Stingmon shouted.

Devimon threw his head back, convulsed with a manic and cold laughter.

"Well that's one down, five to go! Come _small one_, let us see how much _hope _there is for you!"

"You monster!" T.K. muttered venomously.

"You going to fight me boy?" Devimon chuckled.

"I thought I told you, we have gotten stronger since our last battle with you!" He moved to punch the creature, everyone thought he lost his mind, but in his hands was his digivice, a bright light radiated from it, Devimon screaming in pain at the light. "_I remember, I remember your weaknesses Devimon. Messing with us—daring to hurt my friends twice now...that's the last mistake I'm going to ever allow you to repeat!_"

"Master!" IceDevimon rushed out to help, but was stopped by Gatomon, ExVeemon, and Aquilamon.

The three digimon combined their attacks, destroyed IceDevimon.

"Everybody come on! Do what T.K.'s doing!" Kari screamed.

She ran up behind Devimon, and held up her digivice to the dark creature, light shined brightly from it. Devimon back away slightly as he hissed in pain, while he tried to cover his eyes with his long demon-like arms.

Davis ran up next to Kari, looked at his digivice, before also he mimicked what she did. Punched the air with his digivice, light illuminated from it.

"Devimon eat this!" Davis barked.

Yolei and Cody ran up to Ken's side, they looked at each other and gave a silent nod to one another. They pulled out their digivices, aimed it at Devimon.

"This is for our friend!" Yolei yelled.

Light poured out of their digivices, and Devimon was bombarded with it now from all sides. He couldn't escape the light, and he howled even more at the pain the light inflicted on him.

"Guys! Attack him all at once! Hold nothing back!" Davis ordered all the digimon.

Devimon may have gotten a bit stronger, but so have they. And if they all attacked him at once, T.K. realized, then Angemon wouldn't have to expel all of his energy just to destroy Devimon like last time. But no...T.K. admonished himself. He can't think about that. He had to think about their hurt friend. But that didn't stop the silent plea in his heart that Angemon would make it out of this unharmed.

T.K. gripped his digivice tightly, the light burned brighter from it.

"For Ken!" Stingmon started the assault.

"Spiking Strike!"

"Tail Hammer!"

"Grand Horn!"

"Lightning Claw!"

"X-Laser!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"_NO!_ I can't be defeated by _mere_ children—not again!" Devimon's dark data bursted from the combined attacks, and was evaporated by the light of the digivices.

All the digimon except Gatomon returned to their rookie state, ran up to their human partners, T.K. hugged Patamon tightly.

"_You didn't leave me, Devimon didn't take you away again._"_  
><em>

"Ken! Whats wrong with him?" Wormmon grabbed onto his collapsed partner's arm, who's breathing was erratic.

"I don't know Wormmon...T.K., Kari, what should we do?" Yolei looked up at the two experienced Digidestined with worry in her eyes.

"He's not bleeding anywhere, but he is in real bad shape." Cody wiped some of the sweat off Ken's face with the tissues Yolei gave him, "His eyes are open, but it's like he doesn't even seem to notice anything around him."

"Let's head out to Primary Village, it's the closest place to where we are at now, maybe Elecmon will know what to do." T.K. suggested, feeling bad that he momentarily let himself forget about Ken's condition, as he helped Ken onto Davis's back, "You got him?"

"Yeah I got him, just lead the way." Davis stood up slowly, careful with his injured friend.

"T.K. we should hurry, Ken's looking worse; he's even paler than before." Kari walked along side Davis, glanced at Ken's ghostly pale face, with concern.

"Don't worry, we're pretty close to Primary Village." Patamon announced, the area was very familiar and close to where him and T.K. first discovered Primary Village

T.K. looked down and saw a very distraught and worried Wormmon. He tried to give the upset digimon a comforting smile.

"Don't you worry Wormmon, we'll get him back to his old healthy self, promise."

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Ok so I lied, it's NEXT chapter (chapter five) the rest of the original 6 Digidestined return to their campsite. But yeah...phew. I hope this didn't seem too rushed. I've never written multi-action/character battles before, so I hope I did ok ^^; The digimon had to reach their champion states because well...the stakes are getting higher, you'll see soon, we can't have character focused stuff—of single characters digimon digivolving into champions(not that there won't be in the future- but right now with the crazy state the Digital World is in.) I mean for ultimates and stuff—sure, but for the new kids' champions...no, I got so much to cover, their many big bad villains waiting in the wings to kill these kids, they need some power advantage NOAGHW! Ahem...If this was an episode of Digimon, I'd say this chapter would be a two parter at the very least. **

**Poor Ken ): Don't worry, he's gonna get better, but-the universe loves to torture that poor boy. (I'm sorry Ken)*hugs Ken*  
><strong>

**ANGEMON! He's freaking awesome! (Though Palmon and Agumon (lol and Gomamon) and their digivolved forms were most of my faves, but Angemon** **freaking rocks, you know butt will be kicked once he appears.)**

**Special thanks to my back up beta Dragon_Wizard91. :D**

**_Re-Edit Note:__ Darkness Glare is an attack I made up for Devimon, because I thought it would be cool, so yeah._**


	5. Light of the Digivice

**Chapter 5: Light Of The Digivice  
><strong>

**_Re-Edit Note: _Okay so here comes chapter 5 of the re-edit. I still got 6-14 (and part of 15) left to go to get my re-edits all done, so everything looks and matches my later chapters. That's the funny thing about writing, the better you start to get the more and more you go, then you look at your earlier stuff and seriously cringe.**

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>**_

"Set him down over here"

Elecmon lead them inside his little hut and Davis set Ken down in a pile of hay where Elecmon usually slept. Ken had gotten worse; he tossed and turned, his breathing continued to be shallow, face pale and covered in sweat.

"How on Earth did this happen to your friend T.K.?" The orange and purple digimon asked.

"You see, we just had a run in with..._Devimon_." T.K. sighed bitterly.

Elecmon dropped the bowl filled with cold water and a wet cloth inside it. The bowl shattered the moment it hit the ground. Elecmon, embarrassed, tried to hurry and clean it up. T.K. attempted to help, but Elecmon swatted the boy's hands away. He threw away all the glass, got out a new bowl, filled it with water, and placed a new cloth in there. After throwing out the old cloth covered in glass shards, in an empty basket in the corner of the room.

"So..." Elecmon breathed after a long silence, "Devimon returned did he? I knew I felt a chill in my bones for a reason."

"Well we _had _run in with Devimon...we defeated him and his goons…you didn't know he was here?" Yolei leaned against the wall, next to Cody, Hawkmon and Armadillomon.

"This is the first I've heard of it. Though I suppose it doesn't surprise me: this new dark force that has corrupted the Digital World…they've been resurrecting a lot of evil digimon from the past. File Island was one of the few places left that hasn't been over run with those corrupt creatures. It was only a matter of time before they sent someone to try and take it over." Elecmon explained.

He placed the cold cloth on Ken's head. He held up the bowl still filled with the cold water up to Ken's lips, but the water just trinkled down to the sides of his cheeks, Ken wasn't going to take a sip at all.

"I'm not sure of how to fix his condition, but I think I know someone who might. You all wait here and watch over your friend—I'll be back shortly." Elecmon nodded to Kari, as he set the bowl back down on his little table.

The orange and purple creature took off, and left the six children and digimon alone in the small but cozy hut.

* * *

><p>About half an hour later, Elecmon appeared again and with him, waiting just outside the hut, was an old friend. T.K. and Patamon lit up at the sight of him, as they recognized him immediately.<p>

"Leomon!" They both exclaimed.

They ran out to greet their old comrade, both Patamon and T.K. tackled the tall digimon, their little bodies (in comparison to his) squeezed him with a hug. Leomon laughed and smiled down at the young blond and his partner. Patamon flew off Leomon's wrist and landed right by T.K.'s feet, stared up at their large friend with excitement.

"T.K...Patamon…it is good to see you both." Leomon gently pushed T.K. back.

He took in the sight of the preteen, amazed how much the young one had grown. Even though it's been quite some time since he last saw the boy, he can still remember meeting those seven children as clear as if it was yesterday. T.K. barely came up to his kneecaps at that time, and his voice was so much more high pitched too. Granted it wasn't a deep voice or anything, but the fact that the boy has aged was quite evident...and while he wasn't exactly tall, he clearly grew quite a bit since he last saw the child.

He was curious as to how much time has passed in the human world compared to the Digital World, as was prepared to ask such. However, their excitement was cut short.

* * *

><p>A violent scream filled with such pain came from the young Ken Ichijouji. The kids all rushed over to Ken's side. Elecmon shooed them back a bit, so he could have room to check up on the boy. He tried to place another cold rag on Ken's head, but Ken wouldn't sit still, made it quite difficult for Elecmon.<p>

"Devimon attacked that boy?" Leomon asked T.K.

T.K. glared as he stared off into space, silently he nodded his head.

"Yeah, he was trying to attack me, but Ken pushed me out of the way," T.K. hung his head down in guilt, "He...it was...Devimon did something weird and creepy, it was a strange attack...but basically...he _stabbed_ him, with his creepy hand, but Ken isn't showing any signs of injury...well—_physically _anyway."

"If my assumption is correct, then he infected your friend with his darkness. However; unlike when he used his powers to control me, it seems like he intended for this one to be..._lethal._" Leomon put his large hand on T.K.'s shoulders.

"_Lethal? That rotten vile..."_ T.K. clenched both of his fists tightly; they shook in his anger.

"How can we help him?" Kari asked.

She and Davis both tried to hold down Ken, Elecmon finally managed to get the cold cloth on the boy's head. Though they wondered if they should of bothered with that, with Ken borderline kicking and screaming, the cloth wouldn't stay on for long at this rate.

"If I am correct, it seems that while Devimon's attack has different effects than it did when he used his dark powers controlled me, the way to fight it should still be the same, if my instincts are correct that is...light, the power of your _digivices_." Leomon pointed at the digivice in T.K.'s hand.

"The digivices…" T.K. muttered to himself.

He gazed at the device, his mind traveled back to when Leomon attacked him...Tai and Matt had protected him with their own digivices.

* * *

><p>"<em>Don't worry, I got you covered, T.K.!" Matt stood in front of his little brother, shielding him from the possessed Leomon. <em>

_Tai walked up slowly. His face held a look of confidence and determination._

"_Ready for a __real__ fight?" Tai boasted. His confident tone didn't falter at all as he delivered an immature quip, "Well, what are you waiting for, Booger-Breath! Come on and get us if you dare!"_

_Matt thought Tai had completely gone off his rocker, "What's up dude, have you totally flipped out!?" _

"_I must do as I am commanded. Come here." Leomon approached the unprotected Tai._

"_Now!" Tai shoved his digivice into the air, directed it at Leomon._

_A burst of light poured out of the device. Leomon howled in pain, backing away from the light source and Tai kept at it, the light shining brightly. A few of the black gears slowly started to emerge from Leomon's back. Matt and T.K. stared at the scene unfolding with awe. Matt stared down at his digivice, determination grew from his eyes.  
><em>

"_These things pack quite a punch!" Matt ran up to stand beside Tai, he too held up his digivice._

_Its tiny screen illuminated in another burst of light and Leomon's painful screams grew louder. One by one, the black gears came out of his back, floating away. The power of the light burst them into dust._

* * *

><p>"Let's give it a shot." T.K. nodded his head at Leomon, strolled back inside the hut.<p>

Leomon did not follow in, he remained outside, in the doorway—as he sat down and watched. The hut was crowded as it is, and Leomon was far too large and tall. T.K. took a deep breath as he approached the boy who howled in pain. Davis and Kari struggled to hold onto him as they tried in vein to get him to calm down. Ken couldn't hear their voices or Wormmon's, as they uttered words of comfort, saying _"everything is going to be okay"_ and _"hold on"_. But he hadn't heard them. T.K. crouched down and T.K. held his digivice and pointed it at the spot in Ken's chest where Devimon's vile hand had dealt its fatal blow.

"You two," Leomon motioned to Davis and Kari, "keep holding onto him, and pull out your digivices."

"Let's see if this will work." T.K. breathed.

A light shone from T.K.'s digivice, just as it had done before when they fought Devimon. At first it didn't seem like it had worked, but then, a pitch black smoke—or some kind of energy—he wasn't sure how to describe this eerie blackness…burst out of Ken's chest. It was as if it was trying to swallow up Ken, the digivice and everything else. Davis and Kari had immediately pulled out their digivices, light radiating from them. Ken howled in pain, his howls getting louder and louder as he kicked and screamed, his pupils constricted to a point where you could barely see them.

"Just keep at it! It seems to be working!" T.K. shouted.

The darkness seemed to shrink and grow, almost boil and violently rumble…as if it was going to explode. The light of their digivices had been hurting it. T.K. was positive of that.

"T.K...are you sure?" Yolei stood back, her hands on Cody's shoulders.

"This seems too dangerous. I don't think it's working!" Cody wanted to run to the three older kids and stop them.

"No, it's working! It's just gotta work!" T.K. shouted again.

Both of his hands now, held onto his digivice. The dark—_whatever it was_—was making it hard to hold onto their digivices now. Even Davis and Kari had a struggle too, though worse than T.K., they tried to continue to hold down Ken by his arms, while holding their digivice with their other hand. Just from their expressions, T.K. could see it became increasingly difficult for them.

_"It just has to work…it needs too…but…what if…" _

Cody's words and the sight of his shaken hands, fighting to hold onto his digivice, (as well as seeing Davis and Kari struggle too) began to plant seeds of doubt in T.K.'s mind. T.K. wasn't going to let go or give up but…it wasn't in his nature to second guess…but a part of him still couldn't help but doubt.

"But you guys…" Cody started to say.

Yolei's face was tilted downwards, filled with as much doubt as the younger boy felt. T.K. wanted to scream at himself for his doubts, but it was starting to look almost impossible. But then Davis whipped his head back at the two and glared sternly, it surprised them, T.K. and Kari. It wasn't a hateful glare but his eyes held a fire that reminded Kari and T.K. of Tai. He knew Davis was a brave and reckless kid, but...he was also usually so goofy. It was odd, no...surreal, to see a normally goofy guy have such a serious and determined expression.

"Don't say that! Don't you _dare_ start dumb quitter talk like that!" Davis shouted out to them, "Ken's in trouble needs our help. I'm going to keep this up until we beat this thing! It can suck my arm off for all I care—but _no way_ am I going to let it win! We're supposed to be these _so-called chosen ones_ and stuff…right? They chose _all_ of us, a _team_; I'm _not_ giving up on anybody! So don't you dare start doing that either! If T.S. says this'll work…then _it'll work!_"

"_That guy…I thought I already told him it's T.K."_ T.K. mused to himself with a silent chuckle.

The room was silent save for Ken's screams of pain. Yolei and Cody looked dumbstruck. Elecmon and Leomon both had an amused, yet a grin that held approval. Kari's face morphed into that of a small smile. She gave a nod to Davis and gripped her digivice tighter.

T.K. let out a huge exhale of air from his nose, as he closed his eyes. A small smirk still on his face. It was strange, Davis was very different from Tai, no question. T.K. still thought of him as a bit of a goofball, but in that moment, T.K. felt inspired, Davis's determined spirit felt almost infectious. T.K. couldn't help but remember the times Tai inspired the original team. It was a similar feeling, and at the same time, it was completely different. It was in this moment T.K. realized, why Davis was chosen to be a Digidestined with them. With all doubts erased from his heart, he gripped his digivice tighter.

"Cody, Yolei…Davis is right. Ken is one of us; we can't let this thing kill him, not when we just might have the power to prevent that. If there is a chance, you take that it. You just gotta have hope—I know I have hope! Having hope means…"

The light from T.K.'s digivice got brighter, "It means something you know and believe in with all your heart—despite if everything crumbles around. You hold onto hope—no matter what...and we all need to have that right now—Ken needs our hope!"

"The darkness will never win, as long as we believe in ourselves...and believe in each other." Kari exclaimed, Kari and Tai look so different, but from that moment, the expression on her face, T.K. could clearly see a resemblance of her older brother in his childhood friend.

The light from her own digivice also began to glow more brightly, "Darkness will never beat the light…it only wins if _you let it_ win."

* * *

><p>"But Kari, T.K…Davis…I—"<p>

Cody's eyes held uncertainty. He halted his words, feeling a tighter grip on his shoulders. It wasn't a hard grip— it was firm…yet gentle. He looked up at Yolei. She just shook her head, her eyes telling Cody to _"let it be"._

"Nothing has been able to stop us before, I doubt that will start now!"

Cody noticed T.K. gave Kari and Davis a confident smile, the two equally mirrored T.K.'s confidence. Davis had a huge grin that just exuberated energy and spirit.

Cody couldn't understand it, he wanted to so badly. He wanted to understand how Davis didn't have any doubts what-so-ever, or how that translated to Kari and T.K., the two having all their doubts erased. Cody didn't want to doubt, he wanted to have hope for Ken, but it wasn't that easy.

"Yeah...come on Ken! You gotta fight this stuff too!" Davis cheered, and encouraged for everyone else to do the same, "Come on Cody, Yolei, everyone…!"

"Fight it Ken!" The digimon exclaimed in chorus.

"Come on Ken, don't let the darkness win!" T.K. gripped his digivice even more tightly.

"We're right here with you Ken!" Kari announced.

"Please Ken…please come back to us!" Wormmon grabbed onto Ken's shoulder, held it tight.

"Come on Ken! We know you're in there! Keep fighting!" Yolei shouted.

Cody lowered his head, stared at the dusty ground.

"_Hope…but what if…"_ T.K., Kari and Davis's earlier words continued to ring in his head.

Cody found his mind drifting back, thoughts of his grandfather, always instilled Cody with words of wisdom, advise, discipline, honor...his teacher. What would his grandfather say right now?

* * *

><p><em>Cody had been training for as long as he could remember, under the discipline and teachings of Kendo from his grandfather. But that day, a young seven year old Cody was struggling. His grandfather blindfolded him, trying to teach the child to trust his instincts, and not his eyes, to defend himself.<br>_

_But Cody struggled, he wanted so badly to do it just right, just like his grandfather. If there was one thing Cody wanted more than anything in his life, was to be a noble man, just like his father, and as wise as his grandfather. That's why he begged his mother and grandfather, to have his grandfather teach him Kendo, he believed with all his heart it would help shape him into becoming a great man some day, like the two men he admired most. _

_He couldn't get it right though. He was failing his grandfather. He couldn't stand for this. He had to make his grandfather proud, and become a great man like his father...he couldn't shame his father's memory by failing ever. He had to be perfect._

_But he was so young...so small. There was still so much to learn...if only...if only he was more like them. He'd given anything to be just like his father. If he was, then maybe he wouldn't struggle so hard with this lesson, and he'd do it perfectly, impressing his grandfather. Making him proud._

_"Stop." His grandfather sighed._

_He was disappointed, Cody just knew it._

_Cody took off the blindfold, let out a heavy sigh, and bowed before his grandfather, his grandfather returning the gesture. Cody did his best to hide his frustration. _

_"Come sit down, I'll make us some tea." His grandfather set down his wooden sword and gestured to the mats off on the side.  
><em>

_His grandfather came back, with a tray, a teapot and two cups, from his late grandmother's tea-set. He sat down and handed a cup of warm tea to his grandson.  
><em>

_Cody stopped and realized it was a tea he never seen before, he looked up at his grandfather, puzzled, but knew his grandfather would explain._

_"Ah, yes...I thought we'd try something different. You see your grandmother loved European teas, they were her favorite. I'll admit, I usually don't have them, but only on special occasions. This one was her favorite kind, it's called Orange Peel. It's an Herbal Tea." He explained._

_Cody nodded and took a sip. It was delicious, he'd give it that. He was use to only Eastern teas, he'd never had anything of the Western kind of teas. But it was delicious none the less. He never really got to know his grandmother. She died before he was born. But according to his mother and grandfather, she was a gentle, kind spirit, but had a hidden spunky side to her. Cody did sometimes wish he could of met her._

_"Now my grandson, I know you pretty well, you can hide it well with that expressionless mask, but I can tell you are troubled. Speak." His grandfather didn't waste time mincing words, as expected._

_"I...I'm sorry Grandfather. I tried, I really did. But I just couldn't get any of it right today. I failed." Cody stared down into the tea._

_"My boy, you aren't going to get it right always the first time. It is through trials that we learn." He took another sip._

_Cody didn't look up though at his grandfather. His grandfather set the cup down and stared more seriously at him. Cody looked up this time, feeling eyes on him.  
><em>

_His grandfather's eyes softened, a sad smile on his face._

_"Now, I want you to listen to me well. Remember this, doubt, is your worst enemy, my child. Never let it rule you. It is in doubt, that failure will prevail."_

* * *

><p>The little boy shook his head, clenched his fists and looked up.<p>

"Come on Ken! We know you can do it! We…we believe in you!" Cody felt surprised, as these words seemed to escape his lips on their own.

Yolei gave him a little smile, and a encouraging hand firm on his shoulder.

"Look, the black stuff—it's getting smaller!" Davis shouted enthusiastically.

"Wow, look Cody—it's working!"

Yolei nearly jumped in relief, almost toppling the little boy over as she pointed to the scene which unfolded before them.

Cody's lips stretched into a smile, "Its really working…it really is!"

* * *

><p>The darkness slowly but surely dissolved and Ken finally stopped screaming. His breath was still quick and agitated but it begun to ease a bit. His body remained tense. Kari and Davis let go of him and T.K. backed up a bit. Ken sat up, his eyes still wide with fear and shock; he still did not register everyone else in the room.<p>

"Hey Ken?"

Davis's eyebrow furrowed in confusion and he moved to place his hand on Ken's shoulder but to Davis's shock Ken slapped it away. In the blink of an eye, Ken attacked Davis, shoved him into the wall, grabbed the goggled preteen by the shirt.

"Just leave me alone! Go away, just go away!" Ken's eyes seemed full of anger—but Davis could also see glimpses of fear and pain.

"_Ken_—snap out of it!" Davis shouted, as he smacked Ken in the face.

Ken suddenly snapped back to reality. The slap actually did the trick. He loosened his grip, pulled away and hung his head shamefully, as he ignored the red sting that stained his left cheek.

"I thought you were…I…I'm sorry Davis." Ken fumbled his words out.

"Take it easy Ken, it's okay…after what you went through, it's no surprise that you'd be jumpy…I'm sorry 'bout slapping you..." Davis's reassuring smile morphed into a frown, "You okay?"

"Everything…suddenly went black. I couldn't see anything, except…darkness. It was cold, my body just ached in pain…and it just kept getting worse and worse—it felt like I would shatter like glass at any moment! I was all alone…in that terrible dark place. And then that horrible _laugh_. It pierced through me, to the core…just hearing it…I've…I've never been so scared in my life." Ken trembled—his breath was shaky, "They were trying to take me into that cold—dark place, but I didn't want to go, I don't _ever_ want to go there!"

"Ken it's okay, the darkness is gone, you're safe now. It's not going to hurt you anymore…you should sit down." Kari motioned for Ken to sit back down.

He complied, though he was still quite shaken up. Davis was tired of seeing Ken like this; he wanted him to cheer up and forget this whole thing, for his pain and fear to disappear. Make it go away...somehow. Granted it would be easier said than done…but that never stopped Davis before._  
><em>

"Oh come on Ken…relax dude! Those evil monsters or darkness or whatever it was won't bother you anymore! We beat them back! And even if it shows up, I'll just beat them back to whatever dark stupid place they came from. With my digivice!" Davis exclaimed, Veemon exclaimed, _"Yeah!" _after every other sentence Davis uttered.

"But what if it-"

Ken was interrupted as Davis appeared right next to him in the blink of an eye, throwing his arm around Ken's shoulder and pulled him into a tight hug, a big toothy grin on his face.

"Now I know you aren't going to start saying stupid "_what ifs" too,_ Ken. I already told you—if it comes back to get ya I'll just beat it back! So don't worry about a thing, I got your back!"

"You…have my back?" Ken was a bit uncomfortable in Davis's merciless bro-hug.

"Of course we do Ken, after all, you had my back out there…you may have just as well saved my life you know." T.K. approached Ken, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah! Ken, we're all here for ya!" Yolei ran up next to T.K., a large smile plastered on her face, Ken looked at her bewildered, "You know I never did thank you for what you did back there. You distracted one of those Goblimon that were after me and Cody. So...thank you Ken."

"I…uh…you're welcome."

Kari got up and approached Ken too, on the opposite side of Davis, her lips stretched into that warm and sweet crescent shape that was worn on the faces of the other three kids around Ken.

"Ken, we're all here for you. So you don't have to be afraid of it, because you're not alone."

"I'm…not?"

"No Ken—of course not! You're never alone." Wormmon hopped onto Ken's other shoulder, and rubbed his face on Ken's cheek.

"Yeah, Dude…we're your buddies!" Davis gave Ken a thumbs up to go with his ridiculously huge grin.

Cody quietly walked up to them all, beside Yolei. Ken glanced over at the little boy who was doing everything to avoid his gaze.

"Uh…Ken," He pulled something out of his pocket, Ken's digivice.

"You dropped this during the fight…I found it on the ground. So…here you go." The little eight year-old awkwardly placed the digivice in Ken's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Cody." Ken said shyly.

"You're welcome." Cody's voice was filled with equal shyness.

"How come you guys are so shy?" Davis asked.

"Yeah you need to smile more!" Veemon ran up, and grabbed Ken's cheeks, stretching his mouth into a smile, "Like this! See—isn't that better?"

"Veemon, you're going to end up knocking Ken over." Kari laughed, watched the blue digimon pull and push at Ken.

Just then, a devious smile appeared on Davis's face, he quietly chuckled almost evilly.

"Dog pile on Ken!" Davis tackled the poor boy into the hay, the digimon all laughing and jumping on top of both boys.

"Could you all please get off of me?" Ken said awkwardly at the bottom of the pile.

"How come, we're all having fun? Though you guys could lose some weight, and whose foot is that in my butt?" Davis asked annoyed.

"Sorry about that Davis…" Veemon nervously chuckled.

Kari, T.K. Yolei, and even Cody couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the twisted up pile of digimon and the two humans stuck at the bottom.

* * *

><p>"Well now that, <em>that <em>is all taken care of, T.K., aren't you going to introduce your friends to Leomon and myself?" Elecmon teased.

"Oh right," T.K. got his laughter under control, "Well, Ken is the one we brought here to you as you can already guess—Davis is the one dog piling on top of him. This over here is Yolei and Cody. And Elecmon you remember Kari."

"Ah yes, you came around to help the original seven Digidestined defeat the Dark Masters." Kari nodded at the orange and purple digimon.

"Yeah she's the eighth Digidestined that was missing, she wasn't at camp with us when we all first came to the Digital World...oh that's right, Kari you never met Leomon before." T.K. lightly smacked the side of his fist into his other hand, as it dawned onto him. "I'm sure Tai's told you all about this guy."

"That he has." Kari walked over to go meet Leomon.

"It is an honor to meet you child, I'm glad the others found you, and I thank you and the other Digidestined who saved our world." Leomon bowed.

"Oh no, the honor is all mine." Kari politely bowed as well with a silent chuckle. Not use to the attention that she received just now.

T.K. interrupted their conversation as Gennai's words and warnings began to dawn on him a little. "Leomon, Elecmon…do either of you know how to get in contact with Gennai?"

"Gennai? What for T.K.?" Elecmon asked.

"You see, Gennai said that the reason we were brought to File Island is because it's one of the few places these _Dark Ones _have taken under their control yet, so it'd be easy to slip here undetected. And that we should wait in Primary Village and he'll contact us when my brother and the others get back, and until we find most of our crests, stay out of sight. With us defeating Devimon…I mean…" T.K. began to explain.

"That's a very good point. I doubt the defeat of Devimon will go unnoticed for too long. They'll probably send someone else to investigate soon. Leomon, do you know how to get in contact with Gennai?" Elecmon asked.

"I'm afraid I don't…but I do think getting you kids off this island is the best bet for now. Whamon can bring you to an old friend of ours who is dwelling on Server Continent right now. He can keep you all hidden for a while until the other Digidestined arrive. Elecmon and I will wait for Gennai and tell him of all this and where to find you when he appears." Leomon explained.

"Which 'old friend' do you mean, Leomon?" Kari asked.

"A troublesome fellow, but one who has a good heart: Ogremon. You'll all be well taken care of in his hands." Leomon smiled, chuckling at the memory of Ogremon.

T.K. remembered how he couldn't believe Ogremon decided to fight on their side during the battle with the Dark Masters. He wondered how many of their old friends and allies were still around, and where they could find them. They could really use all the help they could get.

"Alright then, that settles it, let's get going." Davis scrambled out of the pile of digimon he and Ken were buried under.

The digimon all scrambled to get out of the pile themselves. Davis dusted the hay off himself, and picking it out of his hair.

"Ken, do you feel well enough to walk?" T.K. asked.

"I feel much better now, thanks T.K." Ken got up, dusting off his clothes.

"Well that answers that, Leomon, will you take us to this Wha-person right now? The sooner we leave the better." Davis looked up at the tall lion digimon.

"Certainly, come children, this way." Leomon nodded.

* * *

><p>It has been about five days since the group departed File Island. Kari listened to T.K. how he didn't remember it taking them that long to get to Server Continent. Patamon and Gatomon explained that the Digital World is not a constant, it's always changing, and not in the same ways things change in the Real World.<p>

They arrived at a beach on Server Continent. Whamon opened his mouth, the six children all came out to greet the sun that had already began to set.

"I can't believe...I was inside a whale." Yolei shivered.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad Yolei." Davis rolled his eyes, stretching his arms out with a yawn, "It was kinda cool."

Cody turned to the Whamon and gave him a bow of gratitude, "Thank you very much for bringing us here Mr. Whamon."

"Why think nothing of it…but where is that Ogremon, Leomon said he should be waiting right here for us when he contacted him." Whamon stated.

"I'm certain he'll show up, Leomon was quite positive about that." Hawkmon crossed his wings like they were arms, as he nodded his head.

"Cody, I think you forgot someone." Ken climbed out, Armadillomon in his hands.

"Armadillomon, I told you we arrived." Cody sighed.

"I know, but I was having such a nice nap."

Gatomon and Patamon both had a sweatdrop appear on their heads when they heard Armadillomon.

"Look, I think I see that Ogremon fellow over there, Ken." Wormmon pointed to the large, green figure, in front of the cave ahead.

"That is him! Oh…thanks again for everything Whamon, we'll see you later!" T.K. waved goodbye before he and Patamon took off to where Ogremon was.

"It was nice seeing you again, Whamon, I hope we'll all see each other soon." Kari waved as she and Gatomon followed T.K.

"Yeah, thanks a lot Whale Guy—we owe ya!" Davis gave Whamon two thumbs up, turned around and sprinted after Kari, Veemon followed suit. "Kari…T.J.! Wait for me!"

"Davis that's _T.K_…"

Yolei and Hawkmon waved goodbye to the whale digimon and chased after the three and their digimon who ran ahead.

"Come on Cody, we better catch up with the others," Ken set Armadillomon down, waved goodbye to Whamon, he and Wormmon ran ahead to the rest of the group.

"Goodbye Whamon, it was nice meeting you." Cody bowed one more time then took off, "Let's go Armadillomon."

* * *

><p>"It's nice to see you again Ogremon." T.K. stated, the group all followed Ogremon deep into the caves.<p>

"Likewise… How are Mimi and Joe doing these days?" Ogremon asked.

"They're both doing really good." Kari grinned.

"Ogremon I'm curious, how was it that you and Leomon stayed in contact?" Patamon asked.

"Ah we send messages thanks to a nice friendly group of Gomamon. Leomon ran into the little guys and protected them from some of the Dark Ones' servants. Leomon had a bad feeling, and wanted to make sure File Island was okay still, so he told me that he was going to head there, thanks to Whamon. He's been their ever sense for a while now. But we send each other messages via the group of those little Gomamon once a week. We have a specific time we always do this. Leomon set it up that way he could inform me anything that might be going on and likewise me to him." Orgemon explained.

"That's a pretty good idea." Kari agreed.

"Yep. Leomon was also thinking of possibly gathering us up some more allies from File Island, before returning here. We were gonna set up a hidden area around here. To help protect and smuggle digimon to escape the tranny of these foes that are trying to enslave everyone. Though Leomon really would like to start a digimon army." Ogremon continued to explain.

"An army? Wow, that would be incredibly helpful if you guys can pull that off!" Gatomon smiled.

They all climbed through the cave, careful to watch their step and not trip over any of the cool, damp rocks. Hawkmon and Armadillomon were engrossed in a conversation that T.K. wasn't really paying attention too. Davis likewise chatted up a storm with Veemon. T.K. got next to Ogremon, and looked up at the tall green digimon.

"I'm sure Leomon has already told you, that Tai and the others will be coming soon." T.K. stated.

The group all came to a stop when the path of the cave came to a halt, many large rocks in front of them, but their was another cavern above all the large rocks in their way. Ogremon climbed up and extended his hand down to T.K.

"Yep, he told me all about it. I'm certain Leomon will tell that Gennai guy, you're all with me, and where I plan on taking you guys. It will be easy for them to find you there." Ogremon helped the kids up one by one into a higher cavern.

"Where are we going?" Patamon flew up, as Ogremon pulled Yolei up last.

"I'll show you a secret way to get to Koromon Village. You see, the Dark Ones have made things really bad here. While the world isn't all twisted and distorted like when the Dark Masters were around, I'd say it's far—far worse than back then. It's become dangerous walking out in broad daylight on the surface. Most of the digimon have been going into hiding in the forests, the mountains and in caverns and caves like this...to escape from either being imprisoned or enslaved...or worse." Ogremon glared.

Not wanting to ask what he meant by worse, the rest of the group stayed silent. Yolei was only silent for a few seconds.

"That's horrible…so has everyone gone into hiding?" Yolei asked.

"No, there are some places that have slipped under radar because they're too tiny to be noticed—like Koromon Village. Or there are very empty places without a soul living in them…but most of the places have been overrun." Ogremon narrowed his eyes, disgusted what has become of them all.

"That's just awful, I can't imagine what that's like." Kari squeezed her hands together with a heavy frown on her face.

"We're all going to turn this around somehow and take this Digital World back! Don't you worry about a thing. They won't find you guys here: they hardly ever go underground. So you should be safe." Ogremon patted Kari on the head.

* * *

><p>"Now Tai, you be careful out there. Please come back safe and sound with your sister." Tai's mother handed him his backpack and Kari's own pink backpack.<p>

Tai kept telling his mother that they couldn't bring a lot. They could only take some essentials: a water bottle for each, 2 blankets and some snacks, and a few other odds and ends he knew him and Kari would need.

"Look after your sister and take care of yourself." Tai's father said.

"I will, guys, don't worry. I promise…I'll be back, both of us will...safe and sound." Tai nodded, as he gave his mother and father a hug.

They squeezed their son tightly, Tai's mother holding back some tears. They let their son go, Tai smiled tenderly at them both.

Matt's father also handed him his backpack, then hugged his oldest son, "You come back you hear? And you better bring T.K. home too. I won't forgive you if you don't."

"Dad, you can count on us coming back. You can't survive without either of us." Matt teased, gave his father a hug, a playful smirk appeared on his face. His father patted him on the back, giving his son the same grin.

"I just had to make sure because if you don't come back…you're in for some real trouble." His father squeezed Matt once more.

His father let him go finally, Matt didn't fail to notice that his father did his best to put a brave face on. Matt tried to give a more genuine (instead of a teasing one) smile to his father, in hopes that it would be of some comfort, but then Matt noticed his mother approach him.

"Matt…I…you and T.K. take care of each other, and give him this when you see him." Matt's mother held up T.K.'s bag to Matt.

Matt just gave her a nod. He and his mother...well they gotten along much better now than they have in the past.

It wasn't easy for Matt, he was often tempted many times to just slip back into old habits and brush her off or give her the cold shoulder. But he promised he wouldn't do that anymore. She was trying to have a relationship with her son again, Matt refused to slip back into the old jerk he used to be, he already decided a couple of years ago, he not only need to learn to forgive himself, but his parents...his mother...too. His mother was trying, and so would he.

Her eyes welled up with tears and she pulled her son into a tight hug.

Matt was hesitant at first, but he hugged his mother back…a somber expression on his face. "Don't worry about us Mom, we'll come back."

"Now Mimi, I know you said you can't bring a whole lot, but I made you a few homemade snacks and I packed your favorite blanket." Mimi's mother started.

"I also bought you this new real nice water bottle—make sure you're hydrated. And in this pocket is a flashlight with some extra batteries—and here is a lighter so you guys won't have too much trouble starting a camp fire. But in case that lighter stops working, I got you some matches!" Mimi's dad interjected.

Mimi parents continued to babble to their daughter of everything they packed for her, Mimi held in a laugh, as she's heard them say this already, but they just want to know Mimi is well taken care of, she knew that.

"I know you didn't want me to, but I packed you just a few extra shirts, just three though, I promise. Also there is one extra pair of shoes for you in there, and a skirt, but only one! And in case you guys need to go fishing, I couldn't fit in a fishing pole…" Her mother babbled before her father interrupted.

"But I put in a few hooks that I bought and some string so you can make your own…and some fishing bait."

"Oh and I also put in some sun block, we don't want our pretty little Mimi to be getting burned and end up with wrinkles…and-" Her mother continued to babble.

"Mom, it's okay, you told me this all on the way here, I'm just glad this load is quite too heavy, I don't think I could fit in anything else in here. Thank you. And thanks for lending me your camping bag, Daddy." Mimi looked at both her loving and doting parents.

She could tell her mother was about to ball her eyes out…her father was probably going to start to cry too.

"Anything…for…our little girl!"

Sure enough, Mimi's father cried, her mother blubbering with him as they both squeezed Mimi into a hug. They smothered their daughter with their love and sobs of them going to miss their _"baby girl"_.

"Mommy, Daddy…I can't breathe!" They loosened their grip and Mimi just smiled sadly, giving her parents both a big hug (though not as oxygen depraved as their previous hug). "I'll miss you both very much. I promise I'll take good care of myself and come back home, just wait for me."

Mrs. Takenouchi handed Sora her bag, placed Sora's hat on her daughter's head, kissed her forehead, then squeezed her daughter into a tight embrace.

"Oh Mom…" Sora's eyes began to water.

She already said her goodbyes to her father earlier that day. Work always absorbed her father's time, but her Father and her made time at the very least to say their goodbyes earlier over breakfast. She managed to put on a brave face the whole day, but right now, in her mother's embrace, she could feel the small tears she held back wanted to finally be set free.

"Promise me you'll be alright and safe." She released her only daughter, from her embrace.

"I will...I am a tough girl. Besides, my friends and Biyomon will be there with me, and I'll come back. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself while I'm gone." Sora replied.

Sora had a single tear fall from her cheek and her mother wiped it away. Her face lit up with cheer for Sora, "I'll be fine too. I promise."

Izzy turned around as his mother slipped his bag over his shoulders. His adoptive parents held tiny smiles on their faces, yet their eyes were somber.

"Izzy is your lap top safely packed?" Izzy's father asked.

"Affirmative, but are you sure I need any of this other stuff, I know it's basic essentials for camping in the wild and stuff but…" Izzy began, but his mother interrupted him.

"Now Izzy, there is no way you expect me to be okay with you going into that Digital World without at least a few important essentials, and just your lap top, now do you?" She chuckled.

"Alright, fair enough. Thank you again for getting these things for me. And well...take care." Izzy hugged his mother and father; they gladly returned the favor to their son.

"You take care too. We'll miss you." His mother said, as they let their son go.

"Say hi to Tentomon for us." His father ruffled his son's red hair.

"He'll be glad to hear that…and I'll miss you both too." Izzy smiled somberly.

Joe felt slightly annoyed that neither of his parents were there. But it couldn't be helped. His Father was on the other side of Japan, at some University, speaking at some Medical University. His mother was called in that night to help with an emergency surgery. He said his goodbyes to them over the phone. It wasn't ideal, but at least they actually answered the phone call for once instead of being absorbed in their work as usual.

Both of his brothers were there at least to see him off though.

"Okay, Joe, so we basically packed some basic things you'll need in here for surviving that crazy world—well as long as you use it properly and don't get yourself killed." Jim added with a little bit of sarcasm.

"Ha-ha." Joe's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"Oh Joe, you know he's just teasing you. Oh, don't forget, we also put in some pain killers, bandages and a First Aid kit as well. And a couple of other, over-the-counter medications that you might need. And we swiped a few other medicines from Dad's stuff, figuring you'd need it. There is some antibiotics...and medicine for poisoning. But it's not for heavy duty stuff, so don't let yourself get bitten by anything life threatening. There are a couple of ointments in there too." Joe's other older brother, John, explained as he handed their youngest brother the small duffel bag.

"Thanks you guys." Joe nodded his head.

"And say hi to that Gomamon for us." Jim patted Joe on the back.

"Will do." Joe smirked as he straightened his glasses.

"Oh come here you, you're not leaving us baby brother without a _proper_ goodbye!" John grabbed Joe into a tight hug, both brothers squeezed him, messing with his hair.

"Oh come on!" Joe whined at the brotherly noogies.

The two older brothers finally released Joe. Everyone had said their goodbyes. The six Digidestined walked up to the exact spot where they remembered they had first been taken. They turned back one last time, to wave goodbye to their families. The time was then exactly noon. A rainbow-colored ray of light shined down from the sky and the six held up their digivices, the light lifting their bodies off the ground.

"Okay everybody…next stop, the Digital World!" Tai shouted.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>-To Be Continued-<span>**_

**YAY! Leomon and Whamon were reborn! 8D It always bugged me that we never saw Leomon or Piximon in Adventure 02, I mean…lame!**

**And yes…I DID start rewatching digimon. How else did you think I got everything word for word on the flashback? XD**

**Ah the EARLY days of the dub, were filled with the most HILARIOUS and DORKIEST of quips and insults. I snort laughing at them, but I still can't help but love it for all it's cornball…but I think that's the whole point of putting that in there, in the first place ^^;**

**So as much as I love the English dub, as you already know it holds a very dear place in my heart sense the time I was introduced to it in my childhood, and is one of the best-imo-dubs of a children's show-ESPECIALLY in the 90s. But…they had their fair share of goofs and faults, I will not lie. One of them being that they kinda didn't realize that Joe had two brothers. Not one, so Shin and Shuu BOTH became Jim. So yeah, Joe has two brothers. I just gave Shin the nickname of John, and Shuu is Jim. And of course you have Joe. So we have a theme with the letter J. XD**

**Okay so know this, by the time Tai and them arrive, it has been a little over 3 weeks since T.K. and the gang met up with Ogremon-FYI.**

**I look forward to your reviews ^_^…but please, no flames. If there are flames…then Piedmon will come looking for you and turn you into key chains. WUHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahem…anyways-hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. **

**And if the stuff with saving Ken, and hope and friendship, believing in one another is corny…well, it's digimon. It's SUPPOSE TO BE corny. This franchise THRIVES on the power of wishes, dreams, hope, and friendship and all that sugary fun-fun goodness XD But I've already kinda said that before haven't I? (Redundant much?)  
><strong>

**Special thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia, for editing this chapter for me.**

**I also want to thank all my reviewers for supporting me thus far, and all your comments. I truly appreciate them.**

**And give also another thanks-again, to my beta, LithiumRukia…and my two back up betas, Dragon_Wizard91 and MissingThePoint for helping me out with this thus far.**

**Re-Edit Note: Also I wanted to add in that little tidbit for Cody's character, because while I felt like I fleshed him out a bit more in this story, it was still nagging at me that I didn't flesh him out enough. Everyone else character had a good establish and fleshing out, and most of Cody's doesn't come til later, and I didn't like that. So...some Cody moments that was much needed.**


	6. Much Anticipated Reunions

**Chapter 6: Much Anticipated Reunions  
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**_Re-Edit Note_:_ **** Okay so** I got down to 6 chapters of the re-edit done. I still got 7-14 (and part of 15) left to go to get my re-edits all done, so everything looks and matches my later chapters. That's the funny thing about writing, the better you start to get the more and more you go, then you look at your earlier stuff and seriously cringe. It my take a while to get everything done, as well as my other projects and fics, I have school, and it's been pretty crazy as of late.******_  
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><p><em><strong><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>**_

Tai slowly opened his eyes, he blinked repeatedly a couple of times to get his eyes adjusted to the bright sun that towered overhead. He raised his head gingerly, as he felt a headache knock around his brain. The air felt crisp and cool, and it smelt of grass and fresh water, he took a deep breath as he felt the relaxed aura that the air gave off, fill his lungs, and exit back out again. Tai eventually rubbed his forehead, in hope, to ease the soreness that still shook in his brain.

"Man—next time could they be more gentle when sending us here? I have a killer headache!" He hissed.

The other five kids all raised their heads, as they too rubbed their heads from soreness and groaned. Tai shook off the headache and stood up immediately. His face lit up, seeing exactly whose estate they were in front of. Seeing the building brought back so many memories, as his smile stretched from ear to ear. The others lit up upon the moment their eyes were drawn to the estate as well.

"Look guys—we're at Gennai's. We made it; we're really here in the Digital World!"

Mimi hung her head down and her whole body trembled from head to toe. Tai thought he saw her lip quiver from the corner of his eye.

"Mimi, what's the matter?" Sora asked.

Her body trembled more violently with each second that had passed, it was like a teapot on a hot stove, and her lid was about to pop off and she would erupt like steam.

"Palmon! Palmon! I'm here! I'm coming Palmon!"

Mimi launched forward like a rocket, it was almost instantaneous. She mowed down Izzy and Matt as she plowed her way through the group, knocked both boys back down to the ground. Sora tried to hold back a giggle while she helped Izzy back up to his feet. Izzy let out a heavy sigh as he shook his head.

"Honestly, Mimi…well at least my lap top and snacks didn't get crushed." Izzy double checked his bag over and the items within it.

Joe reached down and pulled a very annoyed, Matt, back up to his feet. Matt glared at the girl who made a trail of dust behind her as she dashed to Gennai's large estate.

Matt dusted himself off and muttered, "Geez is she trying to announce to the whole Digital World that we've arrived."

"Well you know Mimi…_subtle_ isn't exactly what you'd call her." Joe chuckled.

"Yeah, that's the truth." Tai grinned while he shook his head in amusement, then turned to the others,"Well come on guys, we're not going to let just Mimi greet all our friends, are we?"

The other five exchanged excited grins before they took off after Mimi. Tai could imagine the happiness and many other lists of emotions the others were feeling at that moment. He himself experienced a whole laundry list full of them, he missed Agumon so much he could hardly bare it, he just couldn't wait to see his digimon's face again. Though not in a dream, but for real this time...in person!

The other five made it to the door, where a very anxious and impatient Mimi repeatably knocked without missing a beat. She did it so much, so hard, and so fast, that her knuckles began to turn red.

Sora placed her hand tenderly on Mimi's. It caused the girl to cease as she glanced over at the other female of the group. Sora had a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Mimi you have to be patient, I know how badly you want to see Palmon, all of us are anxious to be with our digimon again...but ease up and wait a bit longer, Palmon isn't going anywhere, and if you keep this up you could bruise your knuckles." Sora gently let go of Mimi's hand.

Mimi gave Sora a hard frown, not a childish or rude expression that was disrespectful, just a frown. She glanced at the door, her lips slightly twitched, she had the urge to pound on the door again, but refrained, as Sora continued to gaze at her with her sympathetic smile. Tai couldn't help but think that it looked like Mimi was going to explode again, and probably knock that door down if she could, just to get to Palmon.

They all froze briefly and all intently stared at the door, everyone completely silent, as they heard footsteps approach the door. Then all six of them became more anxious by the second.

"Yes? Who's there?" Gennai's voice was heard from the other side of the door.

"It's us Gennai, the Digidestined." Tai announced.

"Oh? Digidestined who?" Gennai joked.

"Not funny Gennai…let us in— I wanna see Palmon!" Mimi's expression morphed into a (hilariously) childish, angry pout.

Mimi crossed her arms, and tapped her foot in impatience. Her brow was creased down in frustration, it was clear she had become more anxious by the second. Sora's smile turned into one that was half filled with pity and the other half filled with amusement. She gave Mimi a pat on the shoulder, and the girl's posture seemed to at least slightly relax.

"Some people just can't take a joke…alright hang on." Gennai unlocked the door.

It swung upon and revealed the old man. He had a warm smile adorned on his elderly face.

"Let me take a look." Gennai moved forward a few steps, now in the doorway.

He clasped his old wrinkled hand on Tai's left shoulder, he stared at Tai for about three seconds. He then moved onto give a brief look at Mimi, Sora, Izzy, Matt and Joe. The smile never faded from his face.

"It's been what—about two years in your world? It's such a short time, but you've all grown quite a bit since then." Gennai mused.

Gennai then took into account Mimi's expression (which didn't look as impatient or annoyed as a few minutes ago, but still slightly anxious), and let out a light chuckle. He took a couple of steps back out of the doorway, back into his home. He gingerly side-stepped to the left to where he isn't blocking the way in, and stretched his hand backwards, directed towards the hallway behind him.

"Where are my manners—come inside, all of you."

Mimi's face lit up brighter than the sun on a clear summer day. The rest all smiled with excitement and anticipation as well, all far too eager. The six followed him inside, as Gennai locked the door once more. He motioned with a flick of his right hand—and twitch of his index finger, for the group to follow him.

"This way, your digimon are all here."

Gennai led them down the halls, they turned left and right respectively about five or six times, before Gennai stopped at a door at the right end of the hall, they trekked through. Their anxious feelings now practically went straight through the roof. Tai could practically taste it as it bubbled up.

It's been roughly over two years since he last saw Agumon, (same with Matt and Gabumon, T.K. and Patamon, and Izzy with Tentomon) for the last time they saw each other was that fateful battle on the internet against Diaboromon. It would of been a month and a half more longer of a wait, for everyone else who weren't there for that battle, since they last saw their digimon.

Tai could hardly wait, he needed to see Agumon, so bad. Everyone felt the same though, ever since their nightmare they all had in the real world, the night they woke up and their digivices were somehow damaged (thankfully repaired now though). Seeing their digimon in that nightmare before disappearing, had all six of them on edge to see their partner digimon. They wanted to be sure they were all right.

Tai was certain their digimon were safe, and have been safe. Their digimon were resourceful, and tough. And they've been with Gennai for however long it's been here in the Digital World's time, waiting for the six of them to return. But still...that didn't change the fact they all had been worried...or how much they missed their companions.

Gennai grinned and turned the knob, as he held the door open for them.

* * *

><p>The digimon were eating the food Gennai had prepared for them on a small table in the corner of the room. Gennai couldn't help but feel a little smile slide onto his face, as he witnessed the eyes of the digimon and their Digidestined meet. All twelve of them beamed brighter than any star in the sky. The digimon jumped from the table, away from their meal, and the Digidestined barreled in, rushed towards the digimon who likewise sprinted to their human companions.<p>

Gennai watched as they all shouted each others' names before the two groups finally collided. The young teens and the digimon squeezed each other into hugs, never wanted to let the other go of each other.

"Agumon—I can't believe it's really you!" Tai laughed.

He pulled Agumon off the ground, barely able to hold the dinosaur, who was half his size, but unable to contain his joy—as he tried to twirl the digimon around in his eager hug. The spiky-haired brunette then set Agumon back down on the ground, who in turn glomped Tai's legs.

"And I can't believe it's really you either, Tai!" Agumon pressed his face against the side of Tai's legs.

Matt stayed, knelt over on the ground, as he and Gabumon squeezed each other. He tried to hide his face, but Gennai could see small tears formed in Matt's eyes, but the boy fought and didn't let them escape, Gabumon didn't fight back the small tears on his face though.

"I thought I'd never see your face again, Matt! I'm glad you're back." Gabumon nuzzled his cold, wet nose into Matt's shirt.

"Same here, I'm glad we're both wrong about that Gabumon...it's good to be back...it's good to see you again." The blond teen stroked the back of Gabumon's head.

Izzy got up from the ground, still clung onto Tentomon though. The digimon likewise never let his red-headed friend go. They squeezed and squeezed. Gennai hadn't been use to witness to Izzy so openly affectionate and emotional.

"Izzy, you're a sight for _big, green_—sore eyes!" Tentomon hopped down from Izzy's arms.

"I'm glad to see you too, Tentomon." Izzy grinned at the bug digimon, "Oh by the way, my parents said hi."

"Oh wonderful! They still remember me! Well...whenever you return to the real world, you'll have to return the favor...unless I go back with you like the battle with Myotismon..." Tentomon trailed off.

"It's okay Tentomon, I get it, if you don't ever come to the real world again, I'll be tell them." Izzy grinned.

Sora was sitting down, curled up with Biyomon in a tight embrace. Biyomon's beak tickled Sora's cheek. Both the girl and the bird digimon had shed light tears as they softly laughed in their embrace.

"I've missed you, Sora!" Biyomon didn't ever want to let go of her human friend.

"I've missed you too…" Sora rubbed Biyomon's back.

Joe set Gomamon back down on the ground, the two smiled at one another. Joe scratched behind Gomamon's ears, Gomamon chuckled, completely content.

"You'll always did know the best spot." Gomamon sighed with enjoyment.

Joe silently laughed and continued to scratch. Gomamon opened up his eyes and gazed up and the dark haired boy with glasses, a cheeky grin on the digimon's face.

"So, tell me Joe, your life was probably _dullsville_ without fun ol' _me_ around, huh?" Gomamon snickered.

"Oh you bet Gomamon. My life wouldn't be complete without your bad jokes and immature quips." Joe rolled his eyes.

"Aw, looks like someone hasn't lost their sarcasm either it seems…admit it, Joe, you missed me!"

Gomamon started to giggle, as Joe knelt down and pet him on the head, "I sure did buddy…I sure did."

Mimi and Palmon could be heard blubbering in the other corner of the room…the two practically sobbed their eyes out, as they squeezed each other, Mimi on her knees so she could be at Palmon's level.

"Oooh! Palmon I'm so happy to see you!"

"Mimi…I'm happy too!"

"I've never been this happy my whole life!"

"I've never known what happiness was till' today!"

They continued and continued to blubber, never once released each other from their grip in all that sobbing.

"Please stop…if you get any happier I'll start to cry." A new voice entered the room, interrupted Mimi and Palmon's waterworks.

The teens and their digimon all froze, and turned around, to see the source of that voice they all recognized. He floated along next to Gennai in the doorway, a big smile on his face. The smiles on the teens' and digimons' faces couldn't be any bigger; they all grinned from ear to ear.

"Piximon!" They all shouted, ran up to the doorway.

Gennai chuckled, it was indeed a wonderful site to see that day, the smiling bright faces of those digimon, and especially, the six young teens.

* * *

><p>Tai couldn't believe it, it was Piximon! They were told that when the Dark Masters were defeated, that the friends they lost would finally be able to return. They never got to see it because they left so abruptly, so they always had wondered, but with Piximon there, it lifted everyone's spirits.<p>

"Whoa, easy—easy. I'm excited to see you guys too, but let's not try to get on with group hugs, you all might squish me." Piximon laughed.

The six children stepped back, next to their digimon, to give Piximon much needed air. They all could hardly believe Piximon was right in front of them. The memory of his sacrifice still was fresh in their minds.

"Piximon, it's just that…I mean, you're really here!" Tai was too excited to form a proper sentence.

"Well as I'm sure you all remember, in the Digital World, digimon can never really die. However, the Dark Masters sure made it difficult for those who lost their lives to be reincarnated. Nevertheless, with their defeat—thanks to you all, your friends who were killed during those battles have been able to reincarnate." Gennai reminded them.

"You mean Whamon and Chuumon too?" Mimi asked, hope encased within her eyes.

"That's correct." Gennai nodded at the girl.

Mimi and the others all lit up when they heard that answer. Mimi hugged Palmon again, both rejoiced, as well as their other teammates and their digimon. Sora halted her mini-celebration with the others, she turned to face Piximon, a question laid in her eyes. Biyomon glanced up at her, curious.

"That's wonderful...but, tell me, what are you doing here Piximon?" Sora asked.

"Well I am here to be your guide; we have to remain hidden…so the Dark Ones won't find you. I'll take you a secret way Gennai and I discovered to Koromon Village. Plus I'm the one Gennai asked to hide all your new tags in Koromon Village; you can't find them without my help you know." Piximon floated around the whole circle of the six teens.

"Oh cool, you're coming with us, Piximon?" Agumon raised both arms in the air.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's get going now!" Tai exclaimed.

Piximon chuckled, "Same old, same old. Alright, if you're ready to leave right now, then this way. Gennai and I have something special for us to travel in."

* * *

><p>Piximon and Gennai lead the teens into his basement; it was pretty dim, not much light in there, save for a few candles alongside the walls. Gennai pushed a switch on one of the walls, hidden underneath a candle, a secret doorway opened into a dark cavern. Piximon pulled out a torch from the rocky wall at the entrance, signaled for the kids to follow him.<p>

It was humid and a little bit chilly within the cavern. Mimi and Sora both rubbed their wrists with their hands, and all six felt a slight chill crawl up their arms. Goosebumps formed, it was chilly, but thankfully not too cold. It was tolerable at least.

Sora noticed, as they went in, the cave was hollowed out perfectly to their left…and what looked like train tracks on the floor. Sure enough when Piximon stopped finally, the see something that looks like a train, except, it looked…_alive._

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our good friend. He likes to call himself, 'Worm'…he's a Trailmon. Gennai and I discovered this underground trail years ago that goes straight to underneath the mountain by Koromon Village. There are a couple of other of places this underground road leads too, however I haven't finished fully exploring it all yet." Piximon explained.

"That's how we met the Trailmon fellow who lives down here. He should be able to take you there in a half of a day; you'll be meeting up with T.K., Kari, and the others in no time." Gennai finished.

As if on cue, Worm, the Trailmon, opened up the doors to his passenger car. The sound of the doors made a slight screech, Sora just couldn't believe that there was a digimon that was a train. She noticed Izzy quickly as possible pulled out his laptop and placed in his digivice within a slot in the laptop, as he pulled up the digimon Analyzer. She couldn't help but smile, leave it to Izzy to want to immediately record data on the new digimon they've just encountered.

"All aboard, next stop—Koromon Village!" The Trailmon bellowed.

Izzy put away his laptop and slipped his digivice back into his pocket. The group cautiously approached the train digimon, still hesitant to board. Joe especially looked hesitant about it.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Joe stared at the deep dark tunnel incredulously.

"Don't worry Joe, the Dark Ones don't know about many hidden tunnels, this one in particular. And Gennai and I have used it quite a few times before; I assure you it's safe." Piximon flew into the passenger train first.

Their digimon all followed Piximon, climbed on the Trailmon after. With his worries eased, Joe and the others all climbed in, and sat next to their digimon. The six Digidestined, their digimon, and Piximon, all bid Gennai goodbye, before the doors shut, and the Trailmon started to take off down the dark tunnel.

* * *

><p>Within Koromon Village, Davis and the others exited out of a hut, Ogremon still with them. A Koromon happily hopped up and down, as it lead the group slowly away from the village and towards the Mountain the village rests at the foot of.<p>

"This way, this way! Piximon told us your friends will be here soon, they'll be in the mountain! Come on! Come on!" The Koromon giggled, still jumped along as it led the six kids, their digimon, and Ogremon, to the mountain ahead. "Right here, the entrance is just behind the waterfall!"

They approached the waterfall the Koromon talked about. The Koromon giggled some more, as it hopped behind the waterfall. Davis and Veemon blinked, as they got closer they realized there was some space to walk behind the waterfall and into a cave. Davis silently sighed to himself, thankful he wouldn't have to jump in the water, just to get behind the waterfall.

Davis and Veemon went in first, followed by Kari, Gatomon, T.K., Patamon, Ken, Wormmon, Yolei, Hawkmon, Cody, Armadillomon, and Ogremon. It was damp and a bit on the cool side (but not that cold thankfully), and the air smelt like fresh cold water. It was a little bit dim inside the cave, but not too dim (at least by the entrance where the sun still peaked through the waterfall, so it was nicely lit by the entrance), but the further you went into the cave, the darker it started to become.

Davis looked down at the Koromon, "Okay, so where to, from here? Where are we supposed to meet up with the others?"

"Right here, just wait right here, Piximon should be here with them any minute!" The Koromon jumped up and down, still happy and excited.

Sure enough, not ten minutes later, Davis spotted Tai, five other people with digimon, and a floating pink thing in front of them.

"Kari, look!" Davis pointed out.

"Tai!" Kari beamed.

Kari giggled and dashed up ahead to the group that approached them, and waved as she ran up to her brother, Gatomon close behind. Tai rushed ahead of his party, some orange dinosaur digimon followed close behind him. Kari threw herself into her older brother's arms, the two gave each other a tight squeeze, older brother and little sister laughed with each other as they embraced.

"You made it." Kari pulled back slightly from the hug.

"Sure did, you didn't think you and T.K. were going to go off and have an adventure without us did you? Oh by the way," Tai handed Kari a pink backpack, "Mom and Dad wanted me to give you this."

"Thanks Tai." Kari nodded and placed the pack over her shoulders.

"Matt!" T.K. exclaimed from behind Davis.

T.K. also ran to his brother, Patamon flew close behind, landing next to Gatomon. T.K. then soon regretted dashing up to his brother—as he saw an annoyed expression on the older blond's face.

"Oh boy..." T.K. winced.

"T.K.…you're in big trouble…" His older brother grabbed T.K., ripped his hat off, mercilessly gave his younger brother a noogie. "Going off like that without a word—making everybody worry…"

Davis didn't fail to miss the mischievous smirk on the older blond's face.

"Ow—Matt I'm sorry! Ow! I'm sorry, okay! I give, I give!" T.K. cried out, threw his hands up in surrender.

"That's more like it…alright; I suppose I forgive you for it." His brother teased, and released T.K. with a triumphant smirk.

Gabumon picked up T.K.'s hat and handed it to the younger blond, while the older blond gave T.K. a slap on the back with a firm smile-handed him the a backpack as well.

"Mom wanted me to give you this."

"Thanks bro." T.K. nodded as he threw the bag over his shoulders.

Ogremon dashed up ahead to greet everyone, and immediately greeted, a girl with light brown hair and a boy with dark blue hair and glasses, an oxygen—depraved hug. The dark haired teen with the glasses complained about the lack of air they received. An embarrassed Ogremon set both of them down. Davis, Ken, Yolei, and Cody ran with their digimon to meet the others.

"Davis, Yolei, Cody, Ken...Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon...I'd like you to meet the original team. Davis you already know Tai, my older brother, this is his partner digimon, Agumon. This is Matt, he's T.K.'s older brother, and that's his digimon, Gabumon. This is Sora and Biyomon. That's Izzy and Tentomon. And here is Mimi and Palmon, and lastly this is Joe and Gomamon." Kari introduced.

"And as Kari mentioned their names already, these our the newest additions to our Digidestined team, and their digimon. This is Davis and Veemon, Ken and Wormmon, Yolei and Hawkmon, and finally these two right here are Cody and Armadillomon." T.K. finished up with the introductions.

Each of the older of the six original Digidestined took turns to shake hands with their four newest additions, while the digimon conversed amongst themselves. Suddenly the red-head with the lap-top on his back—Izzy—Davis corrected to himself...broke away from the small talk the group had engaged in and approached the pink-flying-head-thing with stubby arms and legs- digimon.

"So, Piximon, where are the tags?" Izzy asked.

"All twelve should be in a container, at the river floor, about a few feet from the waterfall…" Piximon explained.

* * *

><p>"No worries, I'm on it!" Gomamon hopped through the waterfall at the entrance of the cave.<p>

He dived into the river below, swam around the bottom. About eight feet away from the mouth of the waterfall he found a container. Gomamon grabbed it with his mouth then he splashed his way out of the river and ran up to the cave behind the waterfall.

He set the container down by Joe, who bent down and picked it up, opened it and revealed twelve tags. Joe passed them around; everyone placed them around their necks and turned their attention to Piximon.

"Piximon, you and Gennai don't have a clue where we'll be able to specifically find each of our crests, do you?" Joe asked.

"Sorry, I'm afraid we don't know…but like last time, the tags should lead you to your crests." Piximon nodded.

"But with the Dark Ones controlling nearly everything in the Digital World, how will we be able to find them undetected?" Patamon asked.

"Yes that will be proven challenging. But luckily for us, they have divided all the continents and islands amongst different factions…their servants have split up their conquered lands amongst themselves." Piximon stated.

"Their servants?" Ken asked.

"You see, the Dark Ones come from a dark dimension that only evil digimon inhabit. The Sovereigns seal the dark spirits of several evil digimon there. In fact, the evil digimon in the Digital World, that are defeated get sent there."

Piximon sighed, and then continued, "We don't have a lot of details but apparently the Dark Ones still inhabit that evil world they have originally been sealed in. Despite the fact that they have gained power to rip a portal between their world and the Digital World. Apparently they instead resurrected several evil digimon ones that you original Digidestined have defeated here, and other evil digimon that came before them that were defeated. Gennai says their still trying to find something, and won't come into the Digital World, until those—whatever it is they want…has been found, in fact, there are quite a few things Gennai says their looking for. But after locking up the Sovereigns, I can't possibly imagine what else they want."

"You said digimon we defeated in the past have been brought back…does that mean-?" Kari gasped.

"Yes, Etemon…The Dark Masters…all their minions who served them…and even Apocalymon are among those who have been resurrected." Piximon answered gravely.

"That's…just…great." Tai sunk his back against the wall.

Agumon looked up at Tai and let out a heavy sigh, concern in his eyes. Tai rubbed his friend on the tip of his nose and gave Agumon a half-hearted smile.

"I know, but like I said, don't worry…they've split the regions amongst themselves. Besides, the Dark Masters are actually split in taking over another continent on the other side of the globe…one I don't think you guys have visited yet. It's called User Continent. It's the largest continent in the Digital World." Piximon continued to explain, "The one that has been taking control of this continent is Etemon and several other digimon, the majority of them all being his underlings…Champion and Ultimate level digimon. As for Apocalymon, Gennai says that he's guarding the weakened Sovereigns."

"So Etemon and all the goons under him are our main concern?" Matt asked.

Matt narrowed his eyes, with his hands shoved in his pocket as he stared up at Piximon with a very serious expression. Piximon nodded and cleared his throat.

"Yes, but I should warn you…" Piximon started but was interrupted by Mimi.

"Etemon can still digivolve to that Mega form of his, can't he?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so Mimi. Which is why we don't want Etemon knowing you're here, he'll want to take care of you all himself. At the very least, we can't have them alerted that you've made your way back to the Digital World, until the majority of you have your power to digivolve into Ultimate. If Matt and Tai can find their crests first, that would be most ideal…we could use the power of MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, Etemon would be child's play to deal with." Piximon nodded.

The twelve Digidestined and their digimon all looked at one another, many thoughts obviously raced through their heads. Ogremon gripped his club as he glared at the ground. Piximon let out a sigh, and flew to the center of the circle of the Digidestined.

"Head through the forest out of the mountain and follow the crests. Stay off any trail. Staying in forests, underground roads, caves, and the mountains would be most ideal. Small towns in the middle of nowhere—are your friends...they're too tiny to be of importance to them. But avoid any majorly populated areas—they have conquered all of those. Now I bid you all farewell…I must return back to my domain, I have been away from my home for so long." He advised.

* * *

><p>The twelve humans and twelve digimon bid Piximon farewell, as he headed back down the tunnel to where the Trailmon was, probably to head back to Gennai's. Mimi halted her wave and turned to the tall green ogre digimon that towered behind her and the group.<p>

"Ogremon, thanks so much for bringing the others here." She smiled sincerely.

"No sweat, anything for you guys." Ogremon scratched the back of his head.

"Ogremon I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you." Mimi inquired.

Ogremon immediately stood in attention, eager to hear what the chestnut haired girl had to ask. Mimi silently giggled as she witnessed his obvious desire to fulfill a request for her.

"Ogremon, I was wondering…just in case if Etemon sends any of his goons here, will you protect and lead the Koromon?" She asked him.

"Of course, I won't let any of his pathetic mooks pick on innocent Koromon!" Ogremon gave Mimi a salute.

Mimi giggled some more, as she gave him a salute back. Joe smiled up at Ogremon, gave the tall digimon a pat on his left wrist.

"We're counting on you Ogremon." Joe grinned.

"Don't sweat it Joe, you guys can always count on me!" Ogremon shook his fist, both proud and excited.

They all gave Ogremon a nod and wave, wished him and the little Koromon that lead the way for Kari's group, good luck and goodbye. They continued down the dark tunnels, it got darker and darker as they went. Mimi was about to pull out her flashlight however they started to notice a light to their right.

They made their way to the light, which led to an opening to the forest on the other side of the mountain. Tai had reminisced as they walked from the cave to the forest, the doorway being where his Crest of Courage originally once was. Izzy opened up his lap top, inspecting a map of the Digital World he had saved.

* * *

><p>The group all followed nearly single file. Tai at the front, with Agumon, Izzy, Tentomon, Matt and Gabumon next to him. Behind them Sora, Biyomon, Kari, Gatomon, Davis, Veemon, Cody and Armadillomon. Behind them was Mimi, Palmon, Yolei, Hawkmon, T.K. and Patamon. And behind them was Joe, Gomamon, Ken and Wormmon.<p>

"Well, where should we go from here?" Yolei inquired.

Matt stared forward at the forest in front of him, he glanced on every occasion to the corner of his eyes, from right to left. Silently scanned the area around them, but tried not to make it too obvious, that he glanced around to make certain there were no threats near by. Gabumon, sniffed the air on occasion, to try to help Matt feel at ease, that he too tried to make sure they wouldn't walk directly into enemies (or get ambushed).

"Piximon said we need to stay off any trails." Matt stated.

"Yes, I think we should head west, through here," Izzy pointed at his screen, for Tai and Matt to see, "This part of the forest has no trails, and if we keep heading west, we'll run into a small village. A name isn't listed for the village, so that's a good sign—I doubt a tiny nameless village would get Etemon's attention."

"Excuse me...Izzy, but how far away is this village?" Cody spoke up.

Izzy turned to face the young boy who was directly behind him. He smiled down at the short brunette, slowed down his pace, and held his computer slightly more down so Cody could see the map.

"Do you want the answer in distance or time?" Izzy asked.

Though the question was directed at Cody, Yolei felt compelled to answer it.

"Ummm...time, please...I'd really not like to know how many miles I'll be walking." Yolei put on a fake smile.

"Same here." Mimi laughed in agreement.

"Well…according to my calculations, about a two to three day walk." Izzy answered.

Mimi let out a loud sigh, Palmon quietly laughed, though her face held sympathy for Mimi and the newcomers. Yolei dropped her head and shoulders—in a slump.

"Look on the bright side; we'll be getting a chance to get to know each other." Mimi said in attempt to cheer up the younger girl.

Yolei brightened up to the older girl next to her. She gave Cody a warm smile too for good measure.

"Yeah, as long as we're in safe paths—away from evil monsters, enjoying each others' company, then everything is alright, what's a two or three day straight walk? Besides, walking is healthy for you." Yolei forced another smile.

She noticed Cody had looked up at her that whole time, and she didn't want to look like a whiner in front of the younger boy.

"_All these guys have done stuff like this before and made out of it fine. I've survived in this world for over a month now, besides, I gotta be strong for Cody. I must not be a complainer. No way!_" She told herself.

* * *

><p>Hours have passed, it was sunset by now. The kids all stopped to set up camp as they were hungry. Before they left, the Koromon were nice and gave them several large blankets. Since T.K. and Kari already had some, thanks to their parents, Joe packed the extra two with him, just in case they might need them.<p>

While Kari and Davis went out to go fetch some more firewood, Tai helped set up the campfire. Yolei helped Sora out, setting up everyone's blankets around the campfire. Matt and Joe went to the river near by to fish with the help of Mimi's fishing hooks of course, as well as Gomamon. Izzy typed away on his computer, Cody hung over his shoulder as the older boy explained certain places on the map of the Digital World to him. Mimi decided that she would fill up everyone's water bottles. Ken and Cody decided they wanted to help her with all that, and Yolei and Sora joined them, as they finished setting up everyone's blankets. Biyomon, Hawkmon, Gabumon, and Palmon all went with T.K. and Patamon to go gather up some vegetables or fruit in the area.

Everyone came back to the campsite and by then night had fallen. Joe, Matt, and Gomamon brought plenty of fish for everyone to snack on and T.K. and the digimon that went with him carried plenty of fruit for all to enjoy. Kari and Davis neatly set their extra firewood in a pile, Tai or Matt occasionally throwing a couple in to keep the fire going.

Mimi, Sora, Yolei, Ken and Cody came back with the water bottles, passing them around. Mimi decided to share her water with Yolei. Kari gave hers to Davis, who insisted otherwise, but she just told him that she'd share with her brother. T.K. did the same, giving his to Ken, who also didn't want that—but T.K. insisted. Joe shared his canteen with little Cody. The older kids started to tell stories to the new Digidestined about their adventures in the Digital World.

Mimi in particular fixated on the moment seven of them first came there. She began to share many numerous stories.

"In fact, most of us were about your age when we all got here. Why T.K. was even about your age Cody." Mimi turned to Cody.

T.K. munched on a fish that he finished cooking over the fire a couple of minutes ago, really only half listened to what Mimi was saying. Patamon nibbled on some of the fruit he and the other digimon found.

"Oh T.K. was so cute when he was little! The biggest eyes that would make puppies jealous and the cutest laugh too!" Mimi gushed as she grabbed onto T.K.'s right arm.

That immediately got T.K.'s attention. He felt all eyes on the group now on him. Davis in particular had a very amused smirk on his face. Clearly he wanted to hear more about _"little T.K."_, if only because T.K. recognized that look. That was a look of _"Sweet I'm so going to use this against you to embarrass you later with"_ look. Well if he dared, then T.K. was prepared to cook up something to embarrass Davis right back.

"Mimi, please, you're embarrassing me!" T.K. blushed lightly.

"Daww—T.K.—don't tell me you've gotten too cool for dear, sweet Mimi!" She fake cried.

"Well...no, it's not that, it's...ummm...never mind Mimi." T.K. rubbed the back of his neck.

The light brown-haired girl's fake sadness routine was impossible for T.K. to ignore. He glared at Davis in the corner who still snickered with Veemon at T.K.'s expense.

"Yay! Maybe we can be cuddle buddies like in the old days!" Mimi exclaimed as she glomped the younger boy.

Matt nearly choked on the bite of fish he just swallowed. Joe rolled his eyes, Izzy just continued to ignore Mimi in favor of finishing his dinner. Tai's expression basically was a mix of exasperation and apathy. Cody blinked, as did Ken, they really didn't know what to make of it. Davis was highly amused. Sora watched with half amusement. Kari didn't pay attention, she ate with Gatomon, the two enjoyed themselves. Yolei just watched with curiosity.

"Umm…well…I…uh…" T.K.'s cheeks went pinker.

"Geez, Mimi…never pegged you to be _Cougar_." Tai said sarcastically.

"Honestly Mimi, can't you ever act your age?" Joe nagged.

"Seriously, Mimi, T.K. is too old to be constantly coddled by you, and he's certainly too young to be _cuddling _with someone your age." Matt took another sip of water.

Tai and Joe also took a swig of their waters, while an evil smirk appeared on Mimi's face.

"Sounds to me like you guys are just jealous."

They all spit out their water instantly.

"Oh my...see T.K., I think they _are_!" Mimi giggled.

Yolei continued to watch the scene that unfolded before her with silent admiration. She munched on her food, never once took her eyes off of the group, especially Mimi.

"Wow, Mimi certainly knows how to make all the boys blush, I gotta ask her to teach how she does that someday!" Yolei mumbled to Hawkmon.

Hawkmon didn't exactly understand what was going on, but he shrugged and continued to eat his food.

"Mimi you give yourself way too much credit." Tai rolled his eyes.

Joe decided he wasn't going to press the issue; he didn't want to encourage Mimi.

_Matt however…_

"Okay, first off, that's my little brother! He's eleven now, and he doesn't need to be coddled. He didn't like it when I did it, so what makes you think he wants anyone else to do it. I'm not comfortable with you teasing my brother." He griped at her.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, relax, I was only kidding." Mimi airily waved her left hand.

Mimi let go of T.K., got up and moved back to where she was sitting next to Palmon. A part of T.K. hated to admit it…but he kinda missed those days Mimi would snuggle with him as a kid.

Mimi then winked at the three boys criticizing her earlier, Tai rolled his eyes again, Matt grumbled in annoyance. Joe just shook his head, before he took another bite of his fish.

* * *

><p>The digimon all passed out after eating their fill. Everyone began to lie down on their blankets beside their digimon partners. The fire slowly but surely began to die out as the hours past.<p>

Mimi couldn't resist, she had the urge to tease them all one last time.

"Boys, this is your last chance to snuggle with darling Mimi!"

Joe groaned, took off his glasses and telling himself just to ignore her like Izzy was doing. T.K. looked like he was about to say something, but Matt shot him a look that said, _"Don't you dare answer her." _Sora couldn't help but giggle at the whole situation as she watched Mimi still tease them. She noticed Mimi seemed to give up on teasing Joe, as he finally wouldn't respond to her teases. That didn't stop her though with Tai and Matt, she poked both of them with a stick as she walked over to where Palmon rested on her spot.

"Goodnight, Mimi…" Matt stated, he made no attempt to hide that he was annoyed, emphasized that point with the tone of his voice.

"Aww…what about _you_, Tai?" Mimi teased.

"Go to bed Mimi!" Tai shouted, Sora and Kari tried to hold in their laughter.

"Mimi, stop teasing the boys, you're going to make some of them explode." Sora finally let out a laugh.

"Not my fault they make it so much fun and easy." Mimi yawned.

She stretched her arms as wide as she could and tossed the stick she used to poke Matt and Tai with, into the bushes. Mimi knelt down, and rested her head, as she snuggled up to Palmon.

"She has a point, you guys are basically painting bulls-eyes on yourselves by reacting to her teasing." Kari said to her older brother.

Tai just shrugged. Mimi finally settled down, so as far as he was concerned that was the end of that. Sora looked over at everyone in the group, everyone laid down now, some already went to sleep. (Yolei, Hawkmon, Cody, Armadillomon, Ken, Wormmon, Veemon and Gatomon she noticed already were asleep). She rested her head down. Biyomon snuggled against her cheek.

"Look Kari! A shooting star!" Davis exclaimed, as he ignored a certain Veemon—who snored in his ears.

"Aw, I missed it, where was it, Davis?" Kari pulled the fast asleep Gatomon closer to her chest.

"Right there," he pointed, "Hey look at that Kari see those stars over there, they kinda look like Gatomon's head."

"You're right, they kinda do, let's see if we can find Veemon and the others."

Despite Davis and Kari looking for digimon in the stars, one by one the others started to fall asleep. Joe, Gomamon, then Izzy and Tentomon, followed by Matt, Gabumon, T.K., Patamon, Agumon and Biyomon.

Sora smiled at the two younger kids who talked about finding digimon in the stars, "Hey Tai, remember when the seven of us did that on File Island. Looking for the faces of digimon in the stars."

"Of course I remember that, in fact I think I see Biyomon right now." Tai pointed to the left.

"And that cluster of stars, if you look at them just right, they kinda look like Koromon." Sora giggled.

"And look at that one, it kinda looks like Greymon's head." Tai quietly laughed.

"And that one kind of looks like Mimi's crest, oh and that one, look—there's Izzy's crest. Hey, that one looks like Patamon." Sora pointed right.

They both continued to gaze up at the starry sky they could see, that peaked through the open area they camped in within the forest.

"And look, Palmon is over there, and there's Yokomon and…there's your crest—right there in the middle of the sky." Tai smiled.

They looked into each others' eyes, and stared at each other what seemed like for a good long while now. (Though really it was only for about six seconds). The two blushed a nice shade of red across their cheeks, instantly turned away, their backs faced each other. Both thankful that because of night, that they couldn't really see their blushing very well.

"Goodnight, everybody…" Davis yawned loudly.

"Goodnight Davis, night Tai, night Sora!" Kari smiled to those who were still awake, then rested her eyes.

"Night Kari…night Sora."

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Okay, a more relaxed, breather chapter…trust me, you guys will be needing a breather after all the excitement and danger to come.**

**Trailmon first appearance in the digimon Anime was, digimon Frontier.**

**Lol, Tentomon's line, and Sora and Biyomon's…as well as Mimi and Palmon's in their little reunion I got from both from the dub of digimon Adventure 02 (episode 2 and 6 respectively)**

**Also…as for the Mimi the Cougar (LOL I LOVE YOU AMY)…I blame msn chat with a good friend. First we joke about how Mimi is one of the most shippable characters. Then it turns into how T.K. is adorable and him and Mimi would actually be a kinda cute couple…then I joked about Mimi hitting on the younger boys, which Amy dubbed her Mimi the Cougar. She pretty much stated that I HAVE to insert this cracky Mimi joke into my story. XD Not NEARLY as cracky as in our MSN chat. But I had to throw in that adorably HILARIOUS MimixTK ship-tease…with a Mimi pimp joke-by making her tease and flirt with practically everyone. Because me and Amy clearly LOVE Pimp!Mimi jokes. It's pure sillyness people, don't take it seriously.**

**Special thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia, for helping me with this chapter, (and for the cracky inspiration) XD.**


	7. Separation

**Chapter 7: Separation  
><strong>

**So...here you go...enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

Sora let out a yawn. The sun had just barely come up and while it wasn't bright out yet, Sora thought she saw a bright light out of the corner of her eye. She rubbed her eyes once or twice—there was nothing around her but her sleeping friends. She shrugged it off and decided to start packing her stuff back up, gently waking up Biyomon so she could put her blanket away. Biyomon yawned, but got up so Sora can put the cottony softness away in her bag.

The sun peaked through the trees signaling that the morning had arrived. The twelve Digidestined had all woken up, packed up their things and cleaned up the area.

Mimi...to the boys' surprise...finished up with her packing and cleaning first.

She sat down with Sora and Yolei who had finished up as well. Kari finished not soon after and the four girls chatted about silly things, like their favorite thing to eat, their favorite day of the week, music they loved, places they loved to vacation at, hobbies, movies they hated and other random things. Kari quietly let it slip that her neck was bothering her. Sora took heed and began to gently message the back of the girls neck, despite Kari's protests that she'd be fine, Sora was insistent and did it anyway despite the younger girl's protests. Mimi began to fiddle with and comb through Yolei's hair while they chatted.

"Yolei, you have some really soft hair." Mimi smiled, as she continued to comb Yolei's lavender locks.

"Really? After staying here so long, we haven't had a chance to shower a lot. Plus it was kinda dry on some parts of File Island; I probably have a ton of split ends. My hair probably isn't nearly as soft as yours looks...Mimi. And it's not that pretty orange color like you have, Sora." Yolei gushed.

She started to daydream about what it would be like to Mimi's smooth strands or Sora's tangerine color. Yolei then glanced over at Kari and sighed.

"And that haircut, Kari there is no way I could pull off such short hair like that and make it look as cute as it does on you...on you it looks so feminine. I'd probably end up looking like some geeky boy if I ever tried." She tried to daydream what she'd look like but she didn't like the mental image.

Sora continued to message out the little knot in Kari's neck, and gave Yolei a sympathetic smile.

"That's sweet of you, Yolei, but I think you're hair is very pretty." Sora breathed.

"R-Really? You think so?" Yolei immediately peered up at the older girl.

"Of course she does, and I do too," Kari started and continued, "You know Yolei, not many people and actually have said my hair looks feminine. I mean my mom and Tai are the only people who ever complimented me on my short hair...but they're family so they don't count."

"What? That's insane, you look really cute with that hair Kari!" Yolei exasperated.

Mimi let out a chuckle, Sora joined her in a silent chuckle. Sora was sure Mimi appreciated it, but they got so used to it just being the two of them as the only girls on the team. Sora wasn't that into all the things Mimi loved to do, but she'd still indulge Mimi every now and then. Kari was a great addition they welcomed, and now they had Yolei. It was just nice spending quality time with a group of girls for a change, even if it was only for a brief moment.

* * *

><p>Yolei felt so relaxed as Mimi continued to brush and brush through her hair. Eventually Sora was done massaging Kari's neck, and the younger girl thanked her before the girl gathered her bag at her feet, and Gatomon ran up to her, jumping on her back, hanging off her shoulder, the Kamiya girl giggled and scratched the top of the cat digimon's head.<p>

Mimi asked Sora something but Yolei wasn't paying attention. Sora dug around in Mimi's bag and pulled out a hairband and handed it to Mimi.

"You don't have any split ends at all from what I can see. I'm quite jealous, you stayed all that time on File Island without much time to pamper it and it still comes out looking like this? I was never that lucky. Your hair is beautiful." Mimi began to braid Yolei's hair.

"Oh, th-thanks you guys. No one has ever complimented my hair before." Yolei blushed as Mimi tied off her braid.

"_Wow, I never got to spend time like this with my own sisters, this is kinda nice. Mimi and Sora would probably be the perfect older sisters, I wish Chi and Momo would talk to me like this._" She thought to herself.

Even Kari was like a welcome sister in a way. She as she watched as Palmon ran up to Mimi and Biyomon ran up to Sora. The three human girls were chatting something with their digimon and all giggling, but Yolei once again she didn't pay it much attention...she didn't even notice Hawkmon who had sat down right beside her.

_"They're so cool and nice…why couldn't they be my sisters? Unlike my siblings, they actually compliment me, pay attention to me, and don't treat me like I'm some sort of little geek!"_

"Earth to Yolei?" Hawkmon snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh sorry Hawkmon, what's up?"

"I said here's your head thingy you are always wearing." Hawkmon held up her blue bandana.

"Oh, thank you Hawkmon." Yolei smiled.

She stood up from the rock she sat on and tied the bandana, took care to make certain not to ruin her new braid Mimi fixed for her. Hawkmon smiled up at her, she blinked down at her partner.

"If my opinion is of any consolation...I think you have lovely hair as well Yolei." The bird digimon nodded.

"Thanks Hawkmon." Yolei smiled softly.

* * *

><p>"Alright ladies, we're all done here, enough of the chit-chat and hair care…it's time to put a move on. Unless you wanna stay and do each others nails too." Tai quipped.<p>

"You could always join us Tai, I bet I could do wonders to that porcupine—you call a hairdo." Mimi teased as she stuck her tongue out.

"First off, most people happen to like my hair styled this way, and I agree with them. Second, weren't there those things called c_rests_ we're supposed to find?" Tai's eyebrows furrowed in his impatience, although the smirk on his face and the tone of his voice were dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, those crests aren't going to find themselves, let's get going!" Davis exclaimed excitedly.

"We're coming, you two goggle-heads." Sora laughed.

She put on her hat and grabbed her bag. Mimi put her brush back into her bag and threw it over her shoulder; Kari trailed back over to her brother's side, and Yolei got up—followed the three girls back to the group. The digimon all tailed behind their partners leaving their resting spot behind.

They trekked on for about a good hour. It was still clearly morning as the sun wasn't high in the sky. Even still, they were protected well from the shade of the trees above as they hiked through the forest. It was a little bit humid, yet cool at the same time. Like the perfect spring weather cool, it wasn't too hot or cold, just right. A gentle breeze drifted through the forest. It smelt of grass, leaves, flowers and wood...Tai often forgot how amazing it was how the place was supposed to be made up of data. But it took on a life of it's own, simple things like how the breeze felt against his skin would often remind him that even though the place was data, it was still very much real.

Sora pointed out to Tai how Mimi tried to get herself acquainted with the other new Digidestined. They found it mildly amusing. She already got acquainted with Yolei that morning. The amusing part was her trying to acquaint herself with the two most quiet new additions to their group...Ken and Cody.

Cody was slightly more talkative then Ken, but that wasn't saying much. He mostly gave Mimi "yes" or "no" or other one-worded answers to her questions, occasionally she'd get a sentence out of him though. She got much less out of Ken. The boy practically clammed up the moment she started to talk to him. (Not that he could blame the kid, Mimi was a bit intimidating). However, unlike with Cody, Mimi could clearly see she was making the boy uncomfortable, so she eventually gave up and left him alone, instead decided to try to get acquainted with Davis. Which she did succeed in that endeavor much better...seeing is how Davis is more of an extrovert then, ten Cody's and Ken's, _combined_.

She eventually left him be, to go pester Joe, Matt, Gomamon and Gabumon—Palmon not too far behind her partner.

While she left him be, Davis tripped over a root and knocked straight into Yolei. It caused the girl to topple down to the ground. Hawkmon and Veemon rushed over to both. Davis got up instantly, and dusted off his knees as if nothing happened, Veemon mimicked this by dusting off Davis's shoes.

"Sorry Yolei." Davis nodded down to her and continued to walk on.

Except for Yolei grabbed onto his ankle, Davis nearly fell over because of this, he didn't though, he immediately turned around and glared down at the girl, Veemon turned around and just stared at her, puzzled...while Hawkmon dusted off Yolei's shoulders.

"Hey what gives?! You nearly knocked me over!"

"That was a pretty lame attempt at an apology. And you're going to just walk off like that and leave me on the ground without asking if I'm okay?" Yolei glared.

"Hey I said I was sorry...maybe you should watch where you're walking!" Davis glared.

"Watch where I'm—?! You're the one who ran into me! You need to watch where you're going!" Yolei got up to her feet, ignored Hawkmon who nervously dusted the dirt off her skirt.

"I. said. I. was. sorry!" Davis growled.

Sora gave Tai a nervous look, she didn't have to say it, he could see it in her eyes. Someone needed to break this fight up before it got out of hand...Sora was probably wondering why no one hasn't broken it up already.

"Yeah while just ignoring me and leaving me in the dirt! What kind of guy knocks a girl over, gives some lame weak apology and walks off just leaving her on the ground—making a zero attempt to help her back up?!" Yolei nagged, "A gentlemen is supposed to be more helpful and apologetic than that, to a lady!"

"What lady? I don't see any lady..." Davis mocked.

Tai visibly winced, he was pretty sure everyone there did that paid attention to the argument between the two. Davis was digging his grave. Tai needed to put an end to this.

"You scruffy-headed jerk!" Yolei barked and was probably about to slap Davis.

Tai was about to move in, but to his surprise, his little sister beat him to the punch. She forcibly pushed herself in between the two. The two immediately backed off the moment they saw Kari in between them. There was a feisty little fire in Kari's eyes that Tai rarely witnesses. Sure, his sister isn't some pushover and does have some spunk, but she's just normally so gentle and soft-spoken that when this spunky side of her shows up, it always takes everyone around her by surprise.

"Honestly! I can't believe this, Davis how could you be so rude to Yolei? And here I thought you were better than that! But I guess I was mistaken..." Kari gave him a stern glare.

And with just one look like that, and Davis visibly shrunk. All the fight was knocked out of him, like someone just pulled the rug out from under him and he can't even bring himself to stand back up.

"K-K-Kari I...I..." Davis stuttered but couldn't even bring himself to make an excuse.

He looked so defeated.

"And here I thought you actually had some manners, but thanks for proving me wrong Davis..." Kari shook her head with muted frustration.

And in that moment Davis expression was that of someone stepping on a landmine.

Tai didn't fail to notice Yolei looked a bit smug after that, Tai hoped his sister wouldn't ignore her conduct in this whole debacle either. Sure Davis was an idiot, and was flat out rude to Yolei. However two things Tai noticed about Davis, he's usually not a jerk out right on purpose. Usually any selfish behavior on his part seems to come from the fact that he's oblivious, and he doesn't realize he is potentially hurting someone's feelings or being rude. And the second thing, was that Davis won't start to become outright rude or antagonistic, unless he's provoked.

And the fact of the matter was, he was definitely provoked, while a stupid thing to say and uncalled for, Davis wouldn't say such a blatant rude remark to Yolei, if she hadn't just dropped it...if she hadn't egged him on. He was clearly a boy of action and reaction. And Yolei wasn't visibly hurt, Davis apologize, it wasn't perfect, but it was an apology...she could of easily let it go and no harm done. If she was hurt and he knocked her over without stopping with nothing but that apology attempt, they'd be lecturing Davis on his manners. But she wasn't hurt. Yolei was overreacting a bit, and was going out of her way to pick a fight with Davis because she wasn't pleased with his apology.

In short...they're both childish.

Instead of Kari, T.K. came up to Yolei instead, a disappointed look in his gaze, while Kari stomped off hanging back next to Ken (who looked a bit nervous at that moment, I guess he was very surprised at Kari's outburst).

"Honestly Yolei, I'm really surprised with you. Just because you don't like how someone says they're sorry doesn't mean you should try to pick a fight with them." T.K.'s glare was a mix of the same stern expression of Kari's, yet disappointment.

Yolei just blinked at him in shock, the smug grin on her face vanished, the wind completely knocked out of her sails.

"If you were hurt, and Davis just walked off like that with nothing but that little _"sorry"_, then he'd be in trouble, no question, no one here wouldn't let him get away with something rude like that. But instead you have to go and make a complete big deal out of something that could of easily been avoided entirely." T.K. continued.

"W-What? But he-!" Yolei started but T.K. cut her off.

"It takes two to fight Yolei, you _and Davis_ need to remember that." T.K. glanced back a disappointed look at Davis, to emphasize he wasn't going to just single out Yolei. They both overreacted, and while Kari already chewed Davis out, Tai could see that it was clear T.K. wanted to make a point to them both that they were in the wrong.

T.K. turned back to Yolei, "Some battles aren't worth fighting. If we're fighting amongst ourselves over something that can easily be avoided, then that hurts this team, and it'd be pretty sad if we let ourselves fight over something so pointless. How is that worth it?"

Yolei looked a bit crestfallen after that.

"Yolei, you seem pretty mature to me most of the time, Davis is kind of absent-minded..." T.K. stated.

"Oh thanks T.G." Davis muttered sarcastically under his breath.

While everyone probably wanted to feel the need to correct Davis on that it was "T.K.", Tai didn't speak up, neither did the others. Tai didn't however miss a look of slight exasperation on T.K.'s face, as if this wasn't the first time Davis had done that. T.K. didn't seem to be in a hurry to correct him either, instead choosing to ignore Davis getting his name wrong and kept his focus back once again on Yolei.

T.K. ignored that for the moment and continued, "You shouldn't expect him to see things the way you expect it to be. We can only control ourselves. Same goes for you Davis. You could of avoided this confrontation too. Honestly...it's kind of sad." T.K. walked briefly over to Izzy and Cody, ignored the two for the time being.

Tai and the rest of the older Digidestined stared in muted shock...they all expected either Tai, Sora, Matt or Joe to try and put a stop to it. But instead it was Kari and T.K.

Tai can't say he wasn't too surprised by that. In seemed like in her own way, Kari was becoming the Sora of their little group of the newer younger Digidestined. Not quite mind you...there were many differences to be sure of his oldest friend and younger sister, but he couldn't help but feel that Kari was becoming the "mommy" of their team, just like Sora was the mommy of theirs. Then again...Tai could just be imagining it.

He also couldn't help but smile at T.K. After he watched the way T.K. lectured Yolei and Davis...well, it wasn't quite like Matt. Matt of course called many of Tai's decisions and behavior into question in the past. But him and Matt were far more confrontational about it. Though, that isn't entirely fair, because that was when they were younger, and Matt and him have both changed a lot. Still...T.K. wasn't quite like Matt (not that he could ever see Matt socking a girl in the jaw...) but T.K. was a bit more...Tai wasn't sure how to put it...but...diplomatic maybe?

Tai supposed in that sense, maybe T.K. was acting a bit like Izzy or Joe...he can recall Izzy questioning him with reason and logic from time to time. Joe no different...but no...actually, now that he thought about it. That does make sense...Joe managed to be diplomatic about a lot of things. Even when they were younger, and even when Tai was the leader, Joe severed almost like an adviser. Tai's decisions and conduct weren't just the ones called into question by Joe...even Matt got that treatment too...Mimi as well. He couldn't help but laugh at that thought...did he really just compare T.K. to Joe?

They're personalities couldn't be more than different either...same with Izzy (If anyone would be the "Izzy" of their new little gang, it probably would be Cody if Tai had to guess). But still, like Joe had in the past, T.K. approached things far more diplomatically than he remembered Matt would of at his age.

But then he wondered why he was being so hung up on thinking of where these new kids fit into the mold like their team did. Was it really fair to compare them to the older kids? Sure there were similar personality traits in all the kids to the older ones, but there was vastly many different traits too. It wasn't fair to compare them. This was a new team. These were new Digidestined. He wasn't so sure why he was hung up on thinking about all that stuff.

The group continued on, Yolei stayed glued to Mimi and Sora, while Davis stayed glued to Tai's side.

"You okay Davis?" Tai finally asked.

"It's just I don't know, I'm tired of always getting nagged at. There is always someone. I mean Yolei occasionally nagged at me when we got here, it was annoying but this time, it was just out of nowhere it felt like and I got tired of it. She's just like my sister! Always bossing me around, always nagging at me, always telling me what to do, telling me I'm always wrong and-" Davis trailed off into some rant about his older sister.

Tai didn't pay much attention to the rant but then he started to realize it, it somewhat made sense, this out of nowhere fight. (He wasn't sure about Yolei, but from what he knew about Davis and from the rant Davis was making now, it started to make sense.)

"I think I get it." Tai interrupted Davis's ramble.

"Hm?"

"This isn't about Yolei, it's about your older sister." Tai spelled out, "Yolei I guess reminds you of your sister, that's why you're letting such little things get to you, and taking out some pent up frustration on her, right?"

"I guess...never thought about it." Davis scratched his chin as he pondered Tai's assessment.

Sora left Yolei briefly, after having a discussion with her, and hung behind Tai and Davis, silently listened to their conversation the whole time, but didn't interrupt. At least not til they were finished.

"You know Davis...sounds to me like you and Yolei have a lot in common." Sora joined in.

Davis and Tai turned their heads to face the orange-haired girl. Davis's eyebrows crooked in confusion and annoyance.

"A lot in common? Like how?"

Sora just giggled, "You know, Yolei let it slip to me that she is fed up of her older siblings never noticing how sometimes they push her around. I guess she took that out on you, because it just reminded her a bit of how they don't notice sometimes how they make her feel."

"Oh...I see."

"Hey Davis, why don't you and Yolei go apologize to each other, instead of fighting like a brother and sister, you can try to get along as brothers and sisters should." Tai suggested.

"Her? Sister? Ugh, one is enough thank you!" Davis groaned but relented.

He ran back to where Yolei and Mimi were, the whole group took notice. Yolei looked up at Davis warily. Davis scratched the back of his neck and let out a huge sigh.

"Look, sorry...for the rude things I said...it was—out of line." Davis uncomfortably (though it was sincere) apologized.

"Yeah...me too. I was a bit bull-headed myself, so sorry." She sighed.

Davis held out his hand for her to shake.

"Friends?"

Yolei took the hand and they shook, a grin now on both their faces.

"Friends."

Tai noticed Kari had a warm smile adorn on her face as she walked back over to her brother's side. T.K. too had a grin of approval, eventually he walked back from the front of the group, over to the back, by Yolei, Mimi, and his brother. Hawkmon gave Yolei a nod, with a big smile on his beak, and Veemon and Davis dashed ahead, as Davis hung his head in shame to Kari. Kari just smiled as Davis apologized to her (obvious the boy was scared she started to hate him), but was relieved to see she wasn't mad or disappointed in him anymore.

"Nice to see things sort out." Gabumon sighed in relief, next to Matt, who smiled down at his digimon and nodded in agreement.

With that out of the way, Tai tapped Izzy on the shoulder, curious to make certain they were all still headed in the right direction.

"So Izzy, we just keep heading west, right?" He asked.

"That's right, and so far we're on the right track. I think that if we take only short breaks to rest and eat and make certain to get up early like we did this morning, we just might make it there in two days. But don't forget to pay attention to your tags on the way to the village." Izzy stated, looking at the map on his computer.

"Huh? How come?" Davis asked.

"Oh that's right, I forgot you four are still new at this." Izzy gestured to Davis, Yolei, Ken and Cody.

The group briefly stopped, so Izzy could explain to the new four Digidestined and their digimon. Izzy handed his lap top to Tentomon to hold onto, as he pulled out his tag.

"Okay...Davis, Cody, Yolei, Ken—you see whenever your crest is nearby, the tag will began to glow and almost pulse, like a heart beating. The light will continue to pulse faster and even a little bit brighter every time you get closer and closer to where the crest would be hidden."

"So the tags are in a way...like metal detectors, except they detect our crests…?" Yolei glanced down at the tag around her neck.

"Yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it, except these specifically detect the crest that's meant for you." Izzy motioned for Tentomon to hand him back his lap top.

Izzy put away his tag, tucked back under his shirt, as he then inserted his digivice into the slot above his keyboard.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Cody asked curiously.

"Oh well you see, it would be much easier to look at this map and walk faster without lugging my laptop around. Gennai gave me a lot of useful information and data the night before we came back to the Digital World. To further help us, of course, he also uploaded some sort of program to my laptop that allows me to download different maps of the Digital World—from my laptop to my digivice." Izzy pulled the digivice out of the slot and handed it to Tentomon to hold for him as he put his laptop back into his backpack.

"I see, so you're going to have the map on your digivice then. That's pretty neat. Can you show me how to do that sometime?" Cody asked.

Once Izzy was done with that, the group then continued to trek on, as they followed Izzy who was glued to the screen of his digivice.

"Sure, I can even show you some other fascinating things I've discovered about the Digital World." Izzy smiled down at the young boy.

"I would like that very much, thank you." Cody nodded politely.

Tai and Matt looked at Cody and Izzy with half amusement before they looked back at each other, with sarcastic eyes.

"Oh great…we found an Izzy Jr." Tai snickered.

"Techno-babble galore, aren't you looking forward to that Tai?" Matt joked.

"Do I look forward to hearing Mr. Fujiyama give lectures at school?" Tai quipped.

"Who would?" Matt scowled at the thought of his boring lessons.

"You mean other than Izzy?" Mimi chimed in with a giggle.

* * *

><p>Tai and Matt chuckled along with Mimi, Sora and Joe looked at each other and just rolled their eyes. Izzy still going on and on about something with young Cody. Kari and T.K. continued to explain about the crests to Yolei and Davis, specifically about the Ultimate and Mega levels. They told the two about their experiences when Angemon and Gatomon first digivolved to their Ultimate state, and about when Agumon and Gabumon first Warp-digivolved. Kari peered over at Ken, her eyebrows creased as worry marks crinkled on her forehead.<p>

"Ken has been awfully quiet lately; he barely spoke a word all week. And this morning he hasn't said anything." Kari whispered to the other three in concern.

"Hmmm…don't worry Kari, I'm on the case!" Davis ran over to Ken, pulled the bewildered Ken into another one of his bro-hugs.

Ken blinked in confusion, he tensed in discomfort…yet again, as clearly Davis did not have a sense of personal space. Wormmon glanced down at Davis from on top of Ken's shoulder, also a bit confused, but it was evident he was a bit worried for Ken too.

"What's up, Ken, you've been quiet all morning…" As always Davis got right to the point.

"It's nothing…I'm just a little tired. That's all." Ken looked away.

Kari, Yolei and T.K. all glanced at each other briefly. T.K. rubbed the side of his neck, Patamon yawned from on top of T.K.'s hat. T.K. then strolled up to them and hung by the other side of Davis as the group continued to hike through the forest.

"Tired? Did you not sleep much last night?" T.K. frowned.

"N-No. I mean yeah…there have been a couple of nights where I've had restless sleep. But no, I slept fine last night. I'm just a little worn down is all. I'm not used to hiking and climbing around so much…or fighting off evil digimon." He answered with a somber smile.

Yolei and Kari trotted over to the three boys, hung by the other side of Ken, Gatomon and Hawkmon strolled on behind them. Yolei crossed her arms, her eyes closed and brows narrowed.

"You're telling me. I hear ya' Ken. I'm definitely wiped out myself. In fact my muscles are so sore I can't even feel them anymore." She nodded her head and silently chuckled.

"Ken…is something bothering you?" Kari spoke up.

"Yeah dude, you know you can tell us anything if something's wrong." Davis squeezed Ken with his one-arm hug, one last time, before finally letting him go.

Wormmon nudged Ken softly in the cheek, worry even more plastered in his eyes. Ken looked at his worried digimon partner, then at everyone else around him.

A genuine smile graced Ken's face, "Thank you all for worrying about me but I'm fine."

"Hey you guys, hurry up, don't fall behind or you'll get separated and lost." Joe called out.

Davis and the others saw at they have indeed fallen behind the group. Everyone else was quite ahead of them, they were so distracted they didn't even notice. The five of them and their digimon rushed ahead, up the hill, to catch back up to the group.

"Gee you guys are slow." Gomamon teased towards them, when they finally caught up.

"Naw, I just didn't want to leave those guys behind. It wouldn't be fair to anybody if I was going at top speed." Davis jokingly boasted.

"What would we ever do without your generosity Davis?" Yolei rolled her eyes with a small laugh.

Davis gave her a flat look, but he rolled his eyes and ignored her tease.

* * *

><p>They all continued forward, only to come to a complete halt.<p>

There was huge gap, about maybe fifteen feet separating one side of the woods to the other, they peer down and see a river of roaring rapids far noticed though a skinny rope bridge to their left.

He tugged at Tai's pants, "Look Tai, we can cross that."

The group headed over to the bridge, a nervous look on each of their faces. It was very old looking and narrow to where only one person at a time could cross it. Tai decided to test it out first to see if it was safe. Sure enough, he and Agumon made it across just fine. Sora, followed by Izzy, Davis, Kari, Veemon and Gatomon crossed next—Biyomon and Tentomon flew over to the other side. Cody and Armadillomon got on next, followed by Joe, Gomamon, and Ken with Wormmon still on his shoulder, but Cody stopped, looking down at the rapid waters far below.

"Cody, are you alright?" Joe asked.

"I'm not very comfortable crossing on this bridge." Cody tried his best not to look scared.

"Oh believe me—neither am I, which is why the sooner we get off this thing the better." Joe gently nudged Cody.

They saw a small, dark flash zip by above them, moving nearly as fast as a lightning bolt. Joe, Cody, and Ken hung onto the bridge tightly until it finally stilled. Ken stared out in the direction of the flash incredulously, "What was that?"

But before anyone could try to make sense of what had happened, the flash started heading back in their direction and stopped right above the bridge. It looked like a machine—nothing but a head, one muscular arm and one skinny, mechanical arm. It had two horns and a devil-like smile plastered on its face.

"That's Giromon!" Tentomon shouted. "He's an Ultimate level digimon; you definitely don't want to be on the receiving end of either Giro Chainsaw or Big Bang Boom attack!"

"Guys, get off the bridge fast!" Tai shouted.

But before Joe, Cody, Ken and their digimon could do anything the Giromon attacked the bridge, slicing through the ropes and wood, "Giro Chainsaw!"

The three and their digimon all plunged into the rapid rivers below, getting swept away. The kids all screamed the names of the three boys in horror, not even being able to see them anymore.

Tai looked over and noticed Matt, T.K., Mimi, Yolei and their digimon were on the other side of the gap. Joe and them got swept away in the rapids. Their group had been split up. None of their digimon can digivolve back to Ultimate yet until they reconnect themselves with their lost powers by finding their crests. Tai then glared up at the digimon that destroyed the bridge.

"Alright that does it, you better tell us who you are and why you're attacking us!" Tai gritted his teeth.

"Ha, that's rich. Everyone knows the Digital World belongs to the Dark Ones, you humans must be punished for trespassing." The Giromon laughed.

"How did you know where to find us?" Matt shouted from the other side of the ridge.

"What on earth are you talking about, Human? I'm just patrolling, trying to find a few escaped prisoners, and look what I find…instead of fugitives I find trespassers." He stated nonchalantly.

"_He doesn't seem to know we're the Digidestined…that's good at least._" Tai thought to himself.

* * *

><p>Joe, Ken, Cody and their digimon were swept away quickly by the river's strong current. Cody was struggling to stay above water, as the current was clearly to strong for his little body. Armadillomon tried to keep Cody up, but there wasn't much he could do either. Joe swam over to Cody quickly, and placed the boy on his back. Joe wasn't the best swimmer and was having a hard time with the current as well, but at least he has the advantage of being very tall, so he can at least keep Cody above water. Gomamon took a deep breath and plunged himself below the water. He used his powers to rapidly summoned a colorful school of fish to keep the three humans and digimon a float.<p>

"Thanks a lot, Gomamon." Joe sighed in relief.

"Don't mention it Joe." Gomamon grinned.

Ken felt Wormmon tug at his arm. Ken peered down quizzically at the bug digimon; Wormmon looked very distraught and pointed ahead of them. All three humans, as well as Gomamon and Armadillomon glanced up in that direction.

Armadillomon gulped loudly enough that Joe could actually hear it over the roaring rapids, "Uh…I don't suppose your fish friends know how to swim us away from that waterfall…?"

Wormmon hugged Ken's arm, Armadillomon stuck close to Cody, as both those boys and their digimon were understandably afraid. They however were puzzled how calm Joe and Gomamon were.

"Nope...but Joe and I have something that'll save our skins." Gomamon grinned up at Joe who smiled back down at his partner, and held up his digivice.

"Ready when you are Gomamon." Joe nodded.

Gomamon dived into the water below everyone, as Joe's digivice began to beep—a light illuminated from the tiny screen.

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikkakumon!"

A giant, white walrus looking digimon appeared from beneath them and soon the two Rookie digimon and three humans were all perched on Ikkakumon's back.

"Whoa, so this is Gomamon's Champion level…" Cody said in awe.

"Everybody you better hold on tight, we're about to go over the fall!" Ikkakumon bellowed.

They all squeezed tightly onto Ikkakumon's fur as he went over and gravity pulled them down to the lake below. They all hung on for dear life, as everything but their hands that clung to Ikkakumon was sent into the air. Ikkakumon crashed into the water, creating a giant splash that reached 10 to 20 feet in height.

"Is everyone okay?" Ikkakumon asked.

"Sure…a little bit of a case of whiplash…and maybe a bit of a migraine—but I'm at least alive." Joe groaned, wiping the water off of his glasses and straightening them out.

"I think I'm alright…Cody? Wormmon?" Ken wiped some of his wet hair out of his face.

"I'm alright, Ken." Wormmon shook the water off of his body.

"We're okay over here too." Cody said.

Joe let out a sigh, and nodded towards Ikkakumon. The large digimon dropped everyone off at the shore, before de-digivolving back to Gomamon. Gomamon shook out his fur, water flying everywhere and Joe cringed, pulling off his glasses to wipe them clean again.

"Hey, what's that sound?" Cody asked.

All six of them looked up at the sky; they all heard the sound of something, almost like an engine. Joe quickly shoved everyone into the bushes, motioned with his index finger for them all to stay quiet, before he peeked out from behind a tree. They saw two triangular air-crafts...they were literally metal triangle-shaped sort of devices, the size of a two small airplanes and each had four round digimon on them. There was a large, fat one on each aircraft. The aircraft on the left had three little ones that were identical to the larger one; the other had one little one and two others that looked like a metal version of the little ones. They were heading opposite to the direction which Joe and the others were swept in by the river.

"I don't like the look of this." Joe turned back to the others, kneeling down beside Gomamon, "Do you recognize those digimon?"

"It was kinda hard to tell from down here, but I'm pretty sure those were the Mamemon brothers. They're bad news. The leader of their little group is called Giromon. Each and every one of them is an Ultimate level digimon. If anyone escapes imprisonment, Etemon usually sends them to go find the fugitive digimon." Gomamon explained.

"They're all Ultimate? And they work for Etemon? That's just great…leave it to _us_ to be so _lucky_." Joe grumbled sarcastically.

Cody however was distracted as he stared at a small light that blinked on and off under Joe's shirt.

"Joe look! Your tag!" Cody pointed at the device around Joe's neck that slowly pulsed, emitting a dim light. Joe pulled it out from under his shirt, he was reasonably pleased and surprised at that turn of events. Joe pointed it in different directions to see where the pull of the tag felt strongest; he frowned, as he realized it headed the direction further downstream, following the river that flowed from the lake they all landed in.

"It looks like it's in that direction, but that just means it's further away from the others are right now." Joe sighed.

"We can't go back there yet, those Ultimate level digimon are over there and we wouldn't stand a chance when all our digimon can only go to the Champion stage. We should get the crest first, then we can go back and help the others, I'll be of more help to them as Zudomon instead of Ikkakumon." Gomamon took a few steps in front of Joe and jabbed his front left leg in the direction of the river as if he was pointing.

"But we can't just abandon our friends…they need us!" Cody piped up.

"I agree…with Gomamon." Ken stated, "It's the most logical thing to do. With Joe's crest…Gomamon will be able to digivolve again, and we'll stand much more of a chance if we have a Ultimate on our side. We can't protect our friends if we can't even protect ourselves."

"Besides…we know which direction to go to find your crest, and we know exactly which way to go back to where our friends are, we just need to follow the river." Wormmon added.

"Come on Joe…what do ya say?" Gomamon perked up.

"But…Joe…" Cody's face pleaded to Joe to decide against it and go back.

Joe hesitated, looking at each of the digimon and the two younger boys whose safety he knew he was responsible for. Then there were his friends, probably now had to face all those Ultimates by themselves…both options had their pros and cons. And both choices, the cons seemed to outweigh the pros.

"Hey guys...I was just thinking about something...Cody, there was something that some of your fellow Digidestined said the other day…that T.K. kid, said that if there is a chance you take it—and to..." Armadillomon spoke up.

Cody then interrupted him, his mind drifting back to that moment, the little boy practically staring holes into the ground, "T-to have hope…that we hold onto hope no matter what."

"That's right Cody, and that little lady—Kari…she said that we must always believe in ourselves…and believe in each other. Our enemies will never win as long as we do that." Armadillomon nodded.

Joe smiled down at the digimon next to young Cody, gave him a nod, and turned to face Cody and Ken, "That's right, we'll trust in our friends for now, they're all a lot stronger than you think, they'll stay alive. We just need to get that crest, then go help them. Alright, let's go.."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, over where the other nine Digidestined and their digimon were…the other eight Ultimate digimon stopped their aircraft and floated next to Giromon.<p>

"What are those digimon?" Sora asked.

"Those are the Mamemon brothers. They're all Ultimate digimon. The four little ones are called Mamemon. The really huge two over there are called BigMamemon. And those other two, they are MetalMamemon. They may not look as threatening as other digimon we faced but don't be fooled. These guys are all major big trouble!" Tentomon explained.

"We've been lookin' all over for ya boss, did ya' find the fugitives yet?" One of the Mamemon asked.

"Nope, but lookie what I found: some human trespassers. You remember what Lord Etemon said to do if anyone ever found humans wandering around the Digital World don't ya' boys?" Giromon cackled, "Four of you get rid of the four nuisances over there, the rest of you, come with me to take care these five."

A BigMamemon, one of the MetalMamemon, and two of the Mamemon started to chase T.K., Yolei, Matt and Mimi on the other side, while the other two Mamemon, as well as the other BigMamemon and MetalMamemon helped Giromon chase down Tai, Izzy, Sora, Kari and Davis. They all laughed as they chased the humans and their digimon. Giromon managed to catch up to them though and managed to grab Kari, Gatomon tried to stop him but he just smacked her down, laughing at the little Champion cat.

"You'd be kitty litter if I could digivolve to Angewomon!" Gatomon hissed.

"You let go of my sister right now!" Tai growled.

"Hold still so we can hit ya, and maybe I just might." Giromon launched his red spiky grenade at Tai, "Big Bang Boom!"

"Tai watch out!" Izzy yelled.

Agumon jumped in front of Tai as his digivice glowed.

"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!" The large dinosaur digimon appeared, absorbing the blast of the explosion.

Greymon growled as he winced at the pain, his whole body now covered with dirt way too many scratches to count...the large digimon then brought himself down to his knees.

"Greymon! Get up!" Tai shouted.

"What are you going to do kids? Better not attack unless you want your little friend here to get hurt!" Giromon held up his chainsaw weapon at Kari.

Tai clenched his fists, wanted so badly get his hands on him. However, he stopped growling for a moment because he noticed Davis was missing from the group. Tai turned around, and as if to answer his silent question, Izzy pointed to where Davis was.

"Oh no…" Tai cringed.

Davis snuck behind the five evil digimon and climbed up a tree right beside Giromon. The boy stared down Giromon, looked like a house cat ready to pounce on a mouse. If a digimon in front of them wasn't using Kari as a hostage right now Tai would smack his forehead at the boy's recklessness. Davis then jumped down from the tree...tackled Giromon from above and Kari was released from his grip. She dashed away briefly but stopped to look back at Davis. Tai grabbed her and dragged her behind Greymon. Reckless Davis was or not, he was not having his sister in harm's way.

"Why don't you try fighting us instead of hiding behind Kari you big, stupid jerk!" Davis jabbed him in the eyes, after smacking and punching him.

"Wow, he's even more reckless than you, Tai." Izzy gawked.

Tai groaned and but nudged Greymon. Davis was going to get killed and Tai needed to get him out of there.

The BigMamemon grabbed Davis and tossed him, sending him high into the air at a high speed—but luckily Greymon caught him. Giromon was clearly pissed off now. Kari looked back and realized that they were cornered at the edge of a cliff. Sora and Izzy pulled out their digivices, Tentomon and Biyomon ready to digivolve. However, the five Ultimate digimon each pulled out their bomb attacks, launching them at at the cornered Digidestined and digimon.

"Big Bang Boom!" Giromon tossed a grenade first.

"Smiley Bomb!" The two Mamemon tossed theirs at the same time.

"Big Smiley Bomber!" The BigMamemon chuckled.

"Energy Bomb!" MetalMamemon tossed his with BigMamemon.

Greymon tried to absorb the blast of all the attacks but it was too much. He de-digivolved back into Agumon and the force of the blast sent them all over the edge of the cliff. The five evil digimon all cackled, thinking they had taken care of them and turning back to the other direction. Biyomon and Tentomon shook off the pain that plagued their bodies, and flew down to their falling partners.

Sora opened her eyes and gasped to herself as she noticed that they were plummeting to their death, fast. She looked to her left and saw Tai, he managed to shake off his shock and peered over at her as well, their eyes locked. Concern was in Sora's face, but Tai just nodded to her as they both stretched their arms out, reaching for each other. They laced their fingers around each other's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Biyomon, you gotta digivolve now!" Sora held up her digivice once more at Biyomon who then flew under the two.

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"

Tai and Sora landed on Birdramon's back. The two breathed a sigh of relief momentarily, but not before Tai realized he was still holding onto Sora's hand. He shook his head and yanked his hand away, as he looked around for a sight of Izzy, Kari and Davis. Tai then noticed Izzy to his left. Izzy didn't waste a moment either, as he pulled out his digivice, and Tentomon's body glowed in synchronization with his digivice.

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

The giant blue insect digimon grabbed Izzy with one of his hands and from the corner of Izzy's eye, he saw Agumon fall past them.

"Kabuterimon, go get Agumon!" Izzy shouted.

Kabuterimon flew over and with his other hand grabbed the unconscious little dinosaur digimon. Sora found Kari and Gatomon as they fell. Tai's eyes twisted in further dread as he watched his sister fall, but Sora nudged Birdamon on the back of her large neck, and pointed to Kari and Gatomon. Birdramon swooped down and caught them both with her talons.

"Kari, are you alright?" Tai yelled anxiously.

"Gatomon and I are fine, but has anyone seen Davis?" Kari shouted up in worry, but then everyone noticed a bright light coming from below them.

"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

ExVeemon zipped up to the others, with Davis on his back.

"Hey guys! No worries, ExVeemon got me covered!" Davis gave a huge grin, while giving them a peace sign with his right hand.

Everyone relaxed for a moment, as they all were filled with relief. Tai could feel the earlier worry and tension slip away from his shoulders. Next to Tai, Sora got distracted, as she noticed her tag pulsing with a dim light.

"Tai look at my tag." Sora held the tag up.

Before Tai could comment, they heard Davis call out from below them.

"Guys, Kari's tag is glowing!" Davis yelled.

"Kari's too?" Tai looked back at Sora, "Where does it feel like it's leading you?"

"Straight down..." She answered, and shouted downwards, "What about yours Kari? Where is it pulsing to?"

"It feels like it guiding me straight down to the bottom of the cliff!"

"I see…last time, Matt and my crest were right by each others' as well, when we all stayed at Piximon's mansion. Perhaps Sora and Kari's are also right by each other too." Izzy explained.

"Okay Birdramon, fly straight down." Sora called out.

The three digimon flew down to the bottom of the cliff and Sora held tightly onto her pulsing tag.

"_Matt…Joe…everyone. Just hang in there a bit longer. Once we get these crests that Giromon and those Mamemon brothers will be sorry they ever messed with us Digidestined!_" Tai clenched his fist tightly, but then noticed Sora's demeanor.

She looked very worried. No doubt she was just as worried or maybe even more worried, for all their teammates, as he was. Tai put his hand on Sora's shoulder. He gave her a sincere smile, and a nod, telling her with his eyes, "_Everything is going to be okay". _She nodded back with a small smile on her lips._  
><em>

Yes, everything would be okay. Tai was confident about that.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Okay, so even more action, and crests to come in Chapter eight next time! **

**As for Giromon, Mamemon, BigMamemon and MetalMamemon, they appeared in digimon Adventure 02. In the digimon World Tour arc, attacked Paris—Tai and T.K. as well as some of the French Digidestined defeated them. Granted I added a few more of them to up the stakes. You can check out the digimon wikia website to see the digimon if you don't remember what they look like.  
><strong>

**I want to thank everyone again who has reviewed. Thanks to all your reviews I feel my story is not only growing, but I feel I as a writer am growing. I'm so glad I could write something for fellow fans who truly love digimon to enjoy. I want to create something that appeals to everyone, not just the shippers…and so far I feel I might be a bit successful—which makes me glad. There are so many great and wonderful things about digimon we all love. I hope to grab at and capture all of it. I want to write something that is true to my love to digimon and its characters—as well as true to the fans, you guys, who love it. Thank you for all your support in my creation, my love, and passion for this series and its characters.**

**I feel I grow from everyone's comments, praise and advice. And don't be afraid to ask questions either, if there is something you want to know, like for example—**_**lilamytuu**_** asked me if I will go into the whole Dark Ocean subplot and expand upon it—unlike the original 02 series—which unfortunately kinda dropped it. Granted I won't spoil certain plot points and other stuff, but I'd love to answer questions. Or if I did something that confused you—again I'd be glad to clear up any confusion. Also I would love to hear from those whom I haven't heard yet. Your thoughts, opinions, and advice matter. I love praise—and I thank those who have given it to me thus far. But I want to make this story as best as possible for myself and for you, the fans of digimon. So if you haven't commented yet, please don't be afraid to leave a penny for your thoughts. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.**

**Oh, also...Chi and Momo are Yolei's older sisters, well—their nicknames. (Chizuru and Momoe) Yolei has three older siblings, an older brother and two sisters, she's the youngest of four.**

**I want to give special thanks to my beta editor LithiumRukia for helping me with this chapter, and for all lovely pointers she gives me :D**

_**Re-edit note:**_** _(April 30, 2013…yeah I'm dating when I get these re-edits done now too lol)_ _So with 7 out of the way, I'll get onto 8-15 and do a little touch ups here and there of chapter 16, (thankfully my later chapters I won't have to edit as much as the earlier ones). Man oh man, gotta lot of work cut out for me._  
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	8. Divided But Not Conquered

**Chapter 8: Divided But Not Conquered  
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**_Re-Edit Note: (May 6, 2013) Okay so here comes chapter 8 of the re-edit. I still got 9-15 left to go to get my re-edits all done, so everything looks and matches my later chapters. It's funny how after you completely change your writing style and you go back and look at what you previous typed up and cringe. I mean okay it wasn't that bad...but it definitely had room for improvement. (Plus there were several details I needed to change or correct anyway.)_  
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><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

Matt, Mimi, Yolei and T.K., with their Digimon, ran away from the four Digimon that were giving them chase; four of the Mamemon brothers. The two Mamemon jumped ahead of the group, while BigMamemon and MetalMamemon was behind them...effectively boxed in.

Hawkmon nudged Yolei, she glanced down as he motioned to the digivice clipped against the top of her skirt. She nodded at the hawk Digimon, while she was still new to everything. She remembered the feeling in her heart when Poromon first digivolved to Hawkmon, and likewise when he later digivolved to Aquilamon.

She closed her eyes. She focused her memory of that feeling, kept it close in her mind. She focused and focused on it, clenched her eyes tighter. She felt the familiar warmth in her heart, and against her side—where the special device rested—the digivice slightly vibrated, and the screen began to illuminate. Yolei opened her eyes to see a bright light shine from the digivice at her hip, as Hawkmon glowed in synchronization with it, as his body started to grow large and change shape.

"Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquilamon!"

Yolei climbed up onto Aquilamon's back and he flew high above the trees then readied himself to attack the four Mamemon brothers that surrounded the group.

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><p>Mimi turned to Palmon, squeezed tightly onto the digivice clipped to her pocket. Palmon glanced up at Mimi, the two nodded, as then light began to spill out from the screen of her digivice.<p>

"Palmon digivolve to…Togemon!"

Where Palmon once stood, instead now stood a large cactus with boxing gloves for hands. Togemon stood protectively in front of Mimi, and glared down the enemies in front of them.

"Just Champion levels…you guys are going to have to do better than that." The MetalMamemon shrugged, unimpressed.

"Grand Horn!"

Aquilamon fired a red blast from his horns; it struck BigMamemon but barely tickled him.

"Oh man! That didn't even faze him at all!" Yolei grabbed the sides of her head in stress.

"How about this…Needle Spray!"

Togemon shot her needles in rapid succession. The two Mamemon dodged them though, laughing evilly in unison, their hands glowing.

"Sparkling Glow!"

They fired an energy attack. It struck Togemon and toppled the cactus over. Mimi cried out in horror as the Mamemon both pulled out their bombs and launched them at the downed plant Champion.

"Smiley Bomb!"

The smoke from the blast cleared. Palmon laid in the place where Togemon once was and groaned in pain. Mimi rushed over to Palmon's side, cradling her partner in her arms.

"Palmon, Palmon! Please say something, you're going to be alright!"

"I'm sorry…Mimi. If I c-could digivolve to Lillymon…I would b-be able to p-protect you." Palmon passed out in the brunette's arms.

"Palmon!" Mimi held Palmon close, "_It's not your fault Palmon. You'd be able to digivolve if I didn't let that shadow destroy my crest in that nightmare._"

Matt and T.K. ran over to Mimi and the younger brother picked up the limp Palmon from Mimi's arms. Mimi just sat there in a daze, her eyes locked onto her injured digimon partner. Matt forced her to get back on her feet, hoping to make her snap out of it, "Earth to Mimi! This is no time to be sitting around and dozing off into La-la land! We gotta move now!"

Mimi gave her attention to Matt and T.K., nodding at the two, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Yolei's screams. MetalMamemon barraged Aquilamon with his deadly attacks.

"Magnet Beam!" The blast hit Aquilamon's left wing, the bird digimon screeching in pain.

"Stop it! Stop hurting Aquilamon! We get it, you're stronger! Just leave him alone!" Yolei cried out, nearly in tears.

"Sorry, Girlie, but orders are orders. Any humans found, and any digimon helping them, by order of Etemon, must be _terminated_." He flashed by Aquilamon, striking the underside of him with his claw, "Metal Claw!"

Aquilamon crashed into the dirt below. His body glowed red, his form shrinking back into Hawkmon. Yolei immediately pulled herself out of the dirt, ran to her injured digimon and shook him as if to wake him up from a nap while her eyes flooded with tears.

"Hawkmon! Say something, please! You have to be ok! You just have to! Wake up Hawkmon!" The girl pleaded in desperation. Mimi dashed as fast as her legs could take her to where Yolei and the injured Hawkmon were.

"Is she trying to get herself killed? Come on Gabumon!" Matt and Gabumon ran after Mimi.

T.K. gasped, horrified, as the four Ultimate digimon made their way to his brother and the two girls. "Patamon, hurry, you gotta help them!"

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!" The angel digimon flew ahead of the group, and smacked one of the Mamemon away with his staff.

"I will try to hold them off, get Palmon and Hawkmon out of here." Angemon said to Matt and Gabumon. Matt pulled his digivice out of his pocket, and turned to Gabumon, his digivice beeping.

"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!" Matt climbed up onto the large wolf's back and signaled for Mimi and T.K. to do the same.

"Yolei, come on, we have to get out of here!" Mimi pulled the girl up and hopped onto Garurumon and T.K. handed Palmon to Mimi, taking Hawkmon from Yolei's arms so she could do the same. Once Yolei had climbed on, T.K. handed her the unconscious bird digimon and climbed onto Garurumon's back.

"Garurumon, get us out of here, now!" Matt commanded. Garurumon took off into the forest, his powerful legs moving as almost as fast as a car.

The Mamemon brothers tried to go after them but Angemon flew in front of them to block their path. His right arm glowed as he punched the air four times, a white blast of his holy power fired at the digimon. "Hand of Fate!"

The blast caused the four to crash into several trees. Angemon hurried after T.K. and the others, leaving the four grumpy Mamemon brothers annoyed and with aching headaches.

"Ow! That Angemon packed a powerful punch! That actually kinda hurt!" One of the Mamemon rose and shook his head in pain.

"That stupid angel gave me a headache!" The other Mamemon yelled.

"Dah-Stupid angel! Stupid angel! Made head hurt!" BigMamemon howled.

"That does it, now I'm really mad!" MetalMamemon split the downed tree in half with his claw, "Nobody has ever hurt the Mamemon brothers before. Come on boys…let's give them a reward for being the first."

Angemon had finally caught up to Garurumon, who T.K. was relieved to see was still in one piece. "Angemon, did you manage to defeat them?"

"No, I just bought us a little more time, they're probably up by now, and coming after us." Angemon answered, "I'm sorry T.K. I knew I couldn't chance it, not with four against one."

"It's ok, Angemon. I know it was too much to hope for, thanks for buying us some time." T.K. gave Angemon a thumbs up and he just chuckled a bit in response.

"I think I see a cave up ahead, we can probably hide in there." Matt told Garurumon. The digimon dashed even faster to the cave in the side of a mountain nearby.

"Yolei, are you going to be alright?" Mimi glanced back at the younger girl, her brows furrowed with worry.

"I'll be fine, just a few scratches…that's all." She wiped her eyes with her hand and sniffled, "It's Hawkmon that I'm more worried about."

"Hawkmon will be ok Yolei…digimon are fast healers." T.K. told the girl, hoping that having that knowledge would comfort her. Garurumon stopped when he reached the cave. Angemon landed next to him and helped each of the children hop down from Garurumon. Unfortunately, the four Mamemon brothers had caught up with them.

"Finally found ya', Sneaky Rats…didn't think ya' could get away from us so easy, did ya'?"

"Come on, fellas', let's give the Angemon and his buddies the prize for managing to hurt us!" The other Mamemon chuckled darkly. Garurumon and Angemon pushed the four humans with the two injured digimon behind them, preparing to do whatever it took to protect them.

"Energy Bomb!" MetalMamemon began the chain of attacks at the rocks surrounding the cave entrance.

"Smiley Bomb!"

"Big Smiley Bomber!" BigMamemon finished throwing down the rain of explosives. Everyone ran into the cave as quickly as they could, before they could be crushed by the rocks that sealed up its entrance.

The smoke cleared, the Mamemon brothers sneering and snickering at the sight of their destruction. The cave was completely sealed up.

"So you think we got 'em?"

"We must of got 'em, and even if we did miss them, that cave doesn't go anywhere, they're stuck there and will probably end up dying anyway. If they try to blast their way out, they might cause a cave-in after what we did!" MetalMamemon laughed.

"Come on, let's go find the Boss and the others! We still got those fugitives to find!"

"Duuu-yeah!" Big Mamemon wobbled after the other three.

Matt got up and groaned. Everything was dark and it was hard to see but he could still feel Garurumon next to him. He could vaguely make out other figures around him.

"Ok…sound off if you're not dead." He heard T.K. quip from the corner.

"Oooh, my head is killing me- but I think I'm ok." Mimi called from the other side.

"Forget about me! Hawkmon is still hurt!" Yolei shouted from behind him.

"Well, it sounds like we're all alive and kicking." Matt sighed in relief.

"T.K. you're not injured, are you?" Angemon asked.

"No, I'm ok, Angemon, just a bruise or two, but I'm alright."

"Mimi, your parents gave you a flashlight before you left, didn't they?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, hang on." Mimi dug around in her bag in the darkness, "Found it!"

A stream of light flooded through the cave from Mimi's flashlight. Mimi handed it over to Matt, who inspected the collapsed cave entrance and the ceiling. Garurumon struggled to get back up and de-digivolved back into Gabumon. Angemon then de-digivolved back into Patamon and flew over to T.K.

"Hmm…from the looks of it, they sealed us shut pretty tightly. I doubt that blasting our way out of here is a good idea. We don't know how stable everything is after all those blasts. I suppose we can check to see how far back this cave goes, it's possible that there could be other tunnels out of here." The older blond boy walked back over to Gabumon as Mimi carried Palmon with her, walking back to Matt and T.K.

"Yolei, come on, let's see if we can find a way out of here…" T.K. stopped and noticed the girl was frozen where she sat. "Yolei?"

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault! Hawkmon is hurt because of me…why do we have to fight, I hate fighting, especially if Hawkmon is just going to keep getting hurt like this!" Yolei couldn't take it anymore, she broke down sobbing.

All of a sudden, Matt felt Mimi hand Palmon to him and watched the brunette in bewilderment as she walked over to the younger girl. Mimi knelt down, and then…

"YOLEI!"

The two brothers' eyes went wide; they certainly didn't expect Mimi to shout. Yolei blinked up at the older girl in confusion, the flow of tears decreased on her puffy face.

"Great! Now I have your attention." Mimi beamed with a chipper smile.

T.K. and Matt were even more confused and Matt just shook his head, "_What the heck is she trying to do? Scare the girl even more?_"

"Yolei, I completely understand how you feel. When we fought the Dark Masters, a lot of our friends got hurt. I didn't want to fight ever again because I was afraid that the same would happen to Palmon. I had good intentions- but the truth was, I was wrong. Running away from your fears and battles isn't the same as refusing to fight and hurt others. More people will get hurt if you don't do something about it. Hawkmon will continue protecting you, that's something you can't prevent him from doing- but you can help him get stronger, so that way you don't have to see this happen again. Now come on, let's find a way out of here." Mimi got back up. Yolei just continued to gawk at Mimi, as she also stood up. She held Hawkmon close.

"_T.K. was right; Mimi does seem to get me pretty well. But…I don't know if I can be strong like she is. I'll still try for you, Hawkmon…but I am still not a very brave or strong person. I just keep dragging you down with me. I hope I can stop being a burden. Get better soon, ok…I could use some of that bravery of yours, Hawkmon._" Yolei thought to herself as she followed Mimi.

"Man…this cave seems to go on forever." T.K. stated.

"There _has_ to be an exit for it somewhere." His older brother glared ahead at what seemed like never-ending darkness. They heard what sounded like a squeak from Mimi. "Mimi-What's up?"

"My tag, it's doing that pulse thing! I bet my Crest is somewhere in this cave!" She pointed down to the blinking Crest.

"Well, we're at a fork in the tunnel, Mimi. Which way should we go?" Matt asked.

"Hmmm…" Mimi inspected the tag and pointed it at both tunnels, "The right one."

They continued further down, until there was nowhere left for them to go. Yolei sank against the cave wall, disappointed, "It looks like a dead end."

"No, it's not! It's my Crest!" Mimi exclaimed with joy. Yolei's eyes grew huge, as she witnessed the wall in front of them turn green. It shrunk down to a tiny, green object that slid into Mimi's tag and rays of sunlight filled the cave.

"The wall…just shrunk and stored itself in Mimi's tag!" Yolei's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, that's her Crest." T.K. smiled.

"That was a Crest?" The violet-haired girl did a double take. "This Digital World keeps getting weirder and _weirde_r."

Soon, they exited the cave and Matt observed where the sun was in the sky. It was still morning, from what he could tell, which meant that the cave they came out of was headed East.

"Looks like we're going to have to hike this mountain if we want to return heading West." Matt stated.

"Actually, that's probably not a good idea."

Everyone jumped but calmed back down as they realized that it was just a holographic projection of Gennai.

"Why not? Our friends need our help…we were just attacked by a bunch of Ultimate level digimon f.y.i., and the others are probably still-"

Gennai interrupted him, "Don't worry, your other friends are fine. Everyone made it out in one piece. There is a small village hidden in the forest, North of where you guys are, at the base of these mountains. You should probably head over there where Palmon and Hawkmon can be properly treated for their injuries. From there you should continue heading north, meet up at Haven Village; you'll find there many allies who will be willing to help you. I'm going to relay this information to the others, but be careful, and stay out of sight."

He vanished and Matt let out a huge sigh. He scratched his head, and turned to his digimon partner, "Gabumon, I know you must be tired but do you think you have enough energy to digivolve again?"

"I should have enough strength to at least do that, Matt." Gabumon nodded.

"Great, I'm going to need you to carry Hawkmon and Palmon for us." Matt's digivice beeped.

"Sure thing…Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!" Mimi and Yolei gently placed Palmon and Hawkmon on his back.

"Thanks, Matt." Mimi said.

"Yeah…sure. Hey, Yolei, perhaps you should ride with them. You know to make certain they don't fall off." He slipped his digivice back into his pocket.

"You sure?"

"Garurumon doesn't mind. Besides, you're probably not as used to hiking around as the rest of us are. Save some of your energy, okay?" Matt shoved both hands into his pockets and began to trek down the mountain. Yolei sighed-a big smile on her face as she climbed up on Garurumon, holding onto Palmon and Hawkmon. Especially Hawkmon…Mimi smiled, looking back at the younger girl and ran up to Matt.

"Don't think you can fool me, Yamato Ishida." Mimi teased, having an idea of what Matt's reasons were. He tensed up hearing his full name being used.

"Nobody except my parents calls me that and rarely at that, might I add. And what are you talking about?" Matt frowned questioningly at the girl.

"Oh, it's nothing, Matt, I just find it incredibly sweet that you are being sympathetic to Yolei because she's worried about Hawkmon. It's just kinda funny how you'd try to hide that fact." Mimi nudged him with her elbow.

"Hide? Why would I hide that? It's no big deal, what makes you think I'd do something stupid like that?"

"I suppose you're right, whatever was I thinking…it's not like you didn't want T.K. to know you were worried about his friend or something, right?" She giggled.

"Hn, I don't know where you get these ideas in your head. Again, what is the big deal if I look out for T.K.'s friend?" Matt huffed.

"You're so funny sometimes, Matt. Here you are, one of the most loyal people I know. Yet, for reasons I can't fathom, you still have a hard time admitting that you look out for people…are you a _Tsundere_ or something?" She teased.

"I'm not some dumb character from one of your Mangas, Mimi…I'm no Tsundere." He growled.

"Denial…first sure sign of a Tsundere!" Mimi joked, with an innocent tone.

"Hmph…forget it."

"_Pouting_…second sure sign of a Tsundere." She added. Matt gave her an annoyed glare and she giggled before apologizing, "Sorry, Matt, I'll stop teasing you."

T.K. noticed Yolei was still worrying herself to death over Hawkmon. He whispered into Patamon's ear and the digimon flew over and landed on the girl's head.

"You know, I heard Mimi say one time that if you keep your eyebrows stuck in that spot for long you'll give yourself premature wrinkles." Patamon spoke up.

"Oh hey, Patamon, what brings you over here?"

"Well, you still look very sad. I know you're worried and that's fine- but you should try to cheer up. Hawkmon wouldn't be happy to see you so sad." Patamon frowned. Yolei couldn't resist smiling at the cute face that peered down at her. She felt something grab her hand gently. She turned and saw that it was T.K.

"Hey, everything is going to be ok. You'll see. Hawkmon will make it through this…I promise." An earnest smile appeared on his face.

"Thanks…" Yolei wanted to say more but that was all she could find her mouth saying. "_Everyone has been looking out for me…but what about _them_? No more tears, Yolei…you're a burden to more than just Hawkmon but this entire team. Alright, from now on, buck up for the team!_"

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><p>Birdramon, Kabuterimon and ExVeemon landed on the ground. Kari and Gatomon hopped out of Birdramon's talons, Tai and Sora slid off of Birdramon's back. Kabuterimon and ExVeemon set Izzy and Davis down. Agumon let out a moan, his eyelids started to open and Tai grinned down at the semi-conscious dinosaur in his arms.<p>

"Hey, Agumon, how are you feeling?"

"Don't take me out, Coach…" He groaned.

"Still a little out of it I see." Tai chuckled, a sweatdrop forming on his head.

"Tai? Oh hey, Tai. Is everyone ok? Where are those digimon?" Agumon registered finally everyone around him, Tai smiled; Agumon thankfully wasn't totally out of it.

"Everyone is just fine Agumon, those digimon have seemed to have left. They must have thought that they did us in."

"Ha, it'll take more than that to beat us!" Agumon climbed out of Tai's arms and tried to walk on his own, but fell over. Luckily, Tai caught him.

"That's right, Buddy but take it easy, okay? You took quite the beating. Let me carry you." The brown-haired boy hoisted Agumon back up.

"But I'm probably heavy."

"True, you kind of are. I think someone gave himself extra helpings last night." Tai laughed, grinning down at the little dino, "But don't you worry about it. You earned a break, Agumon."

"I can carry him for ya', Tai." ExVeemon volunteered.

"Thanks ExVeemon, you don't have to though." He handed off Agumon to the blue, winged digimon.

"Don't worry about it Tai, ExVeemon is a team player! Right, Dude?"

"Right, Davis!"

"Ok, Sora…Kari- which direction is the tag leading us to now?" Izzy asked, reminding them to get back to their original objective.

"Right…hmmm…this way!" Sora pointed ahead of them, feeling an incredibly strong pull from her tag.

"It's really close." Kari looked down at her pulsing tag. The light would blink brighter and faster with each step she and Sora took. The two stopped as everyone caught up to them. They looked around and Izzy spotted something on the side of the cliff's wall, just a few feet above their heads.

"Look up there! Those symbols…those are the symbols of 'Love' and 'Light'."

Kari and Sora held up their pulsing tags. The symbols glowed in unison with their tags. The symbol of Light glowed pink while the symbol of Love glowed red…the large rocks on the side of the glowing cliff walls began to shrink. Two small squares, a pink one and a red one, floated down to Sora and Kari. They slid into their tags. The girls turned to each other, smiled and gave each other a high five.

"That was so awesome! So those are Crests…that's so cool!" Davis looked at both of the girls, and the holes in the side of the cliff where the rocks once were. Davis stumbled over as a holographic image of an old man appeared in front of him, "Whoa! What in the world? Don't scare me like that, Old Dude!"

"Sorry about that, Davis. I needed to speak with you all. So listen carefully to my instructions…" Gennai's image spoke.

"Gennai, not to rush you or anything…but-"

Just like with Matt, Gennai interrupted Tai to explain, "-I understand that you're worried but your friends are alright. I've already spoken with Matt and Joe. Izzy, I'm going to send you some directions of onto your computer of what I'm about to explain."

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><p>Joe continued on, following his tag. It pulsed more and more with brightly as they got closer. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something crashing into the ground. It seemed someone had tripped. He turned and saw Ken wincing in pain and holding onto his left leg. From what it looked like, Ken had fallen over the root of a tree which was sticking out of the ground. He trotted over and squat down beside the boy.<p>

"Here, let me take a look. Where does it hurt?" Joe pulled up the leg of Ken's pants and inspected his injury.

"The front of my ankle; I wasn't looking where I was going and smacked it into that tree root." He noticed that the area Ken talked about was red.

"Well, good news is that I don't think it's broken or sprained. You're probably just going to get a really big bruise. We don't have any ice but dipping it in the cold river might help a bit."

"That's ok." Ken pulled himself up, "It's just a bruise after all. Thanks though."

"Okay but let me know if it bothers you anymore. If something is indeed wrong with it too much walking probably won't be a good idea." Joe stood up.

"I will. Umm…Joe, this may sound like a random question but do you have any siblings?" The younger boy asked.

"As a matter of fact, I've got two older brothers."

"Really? You don't seem like the youngest of a family…I figured you were probably the oldest or something." Cody said, looking up at Joe.

"Yeah, well, my father is sort of demanding of me and my brothers. Discipline is something he instilled in all of us. However, coming here to the Digital World is what really forced me to mature so drastically. After all, I am the oldest of the group, and I knew as the oldest I had a responsibility to look out for the others. For the first time, it wasn't something I felt was expected of me…it just felt like something I had to do." Joe walked on, "Why do you ask, Ken?"

"Oh…no reason really. You just…kind of remind me of someone I knew. He always looked out for other people, especially me." Joe noticed a sad expression on Ken's face; he wanted to ask but decided against it. After all, if Ken wanted to talk about it, he would.

Joe stopped. The pull of the tag brought him to the river and the three all noticed something glowing under the water. A boulder rose out of the water with the symbol of Joe's Crest on it. Cody and Ken watched in awe as the boulder glowed with the same gray colour as Joe's tag. It shrunk down into the Crest and floated over to Joe, inserting itself into his tag.

"Ok, Gennai said we should keep heading North to that Haven Village place." Joe spoke up, "We should keep following the river-the village should be at the base of it, but stay within the trees so it'll be harder to spot us just in case Etemon's little friends are still around."

"I wonder how far away this village is." Wormmon hopped up on Ken's back and climbed all the way to the top of his head, sitting on it.

Ken smiled, glancing up at the bug digimon, "You getting tired of walking, Wormmon?"

"Well, a little bit…but I'm actually more worried about your leg. If you're hurt I don't think you should be walking on it."

"It's ok, Wormmon, it's just a bruise. I'm fine. It's a little sore but most of the pain is gone."

"Okay but promise me you'll take a break if you feel it getting worse."

"I promise."

"I don't know how far it is I'm afraid. All Gennai said was to keep walking by the river and we should find it." Joe rummaged through his bag, making a mental checklist of everything he had one more time.

"Joe, I was wondering…about these Crests, could you tell us a little bit more about them?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, I'm a little curious myself. I know that through digivolving they borrow power from us…but I kind of don't understand that part." Ken stated.

"Well, I'm no Izzy but I'll do my best to explain. I don't quite understand it myself-but digivolving is a process all digimon can accomplish. Like when a computer gets an upgrade. However, we're a bit more special…you see some digimon it takes them a while to be able to gather enough power to go to the next level, or they need help from an outside power in order to do that. Our digimon tap directly into a power source inside us…again I'm a little confused about it myself. But it's something in our heart or in our spirit, because in the Digital World, the power of your heart-like your wishes and dreams become even more powerful-like a real thing here." Joe started to explain, Cody and Ken just blinked.

"Yeah, I know, it sounds a little strange. But think of it this way, our digimon are able to access this power at any time through us and get more powerful, unlike other digimon. It's through our bond with our digimon, and this power in our hearts that the digimon draws it power source from. If they were a car, we would be their own personal fuel supply. Take me, for example, my Crest is called Reliability." Joe held up his Crest.

"That's right. The power I draw from is Joe's responsible nature…that quality about him that makes who he is. He's always someone who thinks of other people, protecting and helping them. That's Joe's power, and in turn. That's my power." Gomamon piped in.

"Yes…exactly. So your Crests are literally something about you that makes you who you are-it becomes a real power here in the Digital World, and the digimon draw from that power." Joe nodded.

"I see…the Digital World sure is a strange but fascinating place." Cody gazed at the Crest around Joe's neck.

"Well, if you ask me, the human world is pretty weird too. But I suppose that can be forgiven since it has a lot of interesting things too." Gomamon joked. Joe just laughed, walked on ahead, Gomamon trotted on behind him.

"Indeed, it is Gomamon, now come on guys, let's go see if we can find that village." The others followed close behind Joe, in the direction of the river. Ken and Cody pondered to themselves about the Crests and began to wonder what their own powers could be…Ken wasn't nearly as fascinated by it as Cody was, though.

"_I wonder…this digivice clearly must have been meant for Sam. So…Wormmon was probably meant for him too. That Crest is probably his power…does this mean I need to be more like Sam in this world too? That must be the case…Wormmon won't be able to digivolve without that power._" Ken thought to himself, sadly.

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><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Poor Ken, he still seems to think that the digivice was meant for his older brother instead of him :(…but no worries, Ken will eventually see the truth :D**

**Also Dr. Joe is on the case! He can make any boo-boo better! :D…**_***is brick'd* **_**Yeah ok, I admit saying that was dorky, but I love being dorky. And you can't help but love Joe! :3**

**Lol, I blame my beta and friend (again) Amy (LithiumRukia) for giving me another crazy idea. First the **_**Mimi the Cougar**_** gag (Lol, which as you can see made a triumphant return in my intro XD). And now she inspired me to make a joke about Tsunderes. Lol, oh Matt...why do you make yourself such a fun and easy target to tease and pick on?**

**For those who might not remember, in the first episode of Digimon, they introduced the kids by their real names plus their nicknames-which they all call each other by-minus Sora and Mimi (Taichi "Tai" Kamiya, Jou "Joe" Kido, Yamato "Matt" Ishida, Koushirou "Izzy" Izumi, and Takeru "T.K." Takaishi…as well as Hikari "Kari" Kamiya). The same rule is going to carry over to the other characters. Like it will be Daisuke "Davis" Motomiya, Miyako "Yolei" Inoue, Iori "Cody" Hida as well as some of the minor characters (Like Joe's brothers-Shin "John" Kido & Shuu "Jim" Kido…and Yolei's siblings- Mantarou "Taro" Inoue, Chizuru "Chi" Inoue, and Momoe "Momo" Inoue) With some tiny explanations for why they have those nicknames. Why? Because coming up with ideas behind the nicknames are fun :P lol.**

**The "don't take me out coach" line from Agumon, yes that was from the Digimon Movie. **

**Please feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in a review :) But no flames are welcome…flamers will be pwned by BlackWarGreymon. (wuhahaha!)**

**Special thanks to my Beta, LithiumRukia for helping me out with this chapter. :D**


	9. Staying On The Down Low

**Chapter 9: Staying On The Down Low  
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**_Re-edit Note: (May blah, 2013) Okay so here comes chapter 9 of the re-edit. I still got 10-15 left to go to get my re-edits all done (yes almost finished!), so everything looks and matches my later chapters. It's funny how after you completely change your writing style and you go back and look at what you previous typed up and cringe. I mean okay it wasn't that bad...but it definitely had room for improvement. (Plus there were several details I needed to change or correct anyway.)_**

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><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

"Hawkmon! You're awake!" Yolei squeezed the bird digimon, who cringed in pain.

"Yolei, I think I might pass out again if you squeeze any harder!" Hawkmon shouted.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry about that." Yolei loosened her grip.

Palmon also had come too, as well, and Mimi was overjoyed. She ran up to Garurumon's side and placed her hand on Palmon's, holding it tightly as she could feel some tears well up in her eyes. They didn't escape though, they remained stuck in there, but the smile on her face was something she couldn't hold back.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay, Mimi." Palmon sighed in relief.

"Me? Of course I'm fine but how about you, you gave me a little scare there." Mimi squeezed Palmon's hand tenderly.

"My head is killing me and my roots are aching—but I'm okay as long as you're not hurt!" Palmon said, perking up.

Yolei broke into sobs again, squeezed the daylights out of Hawkmon and blubbered, "I'm so g-glad you're okay! I was s-so scared Hawkmon! I…I was af-fraid you'd never wake up! I d-don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"

"I'm sorry to have worried you but please, Yolei…I would like to breath!" He wheezed.

The four continued going the way Gennai instructed, they only stopped once for a quick rest and snack before they pressed on again. The sun started to set and luckily they saw a tiny village at the base of one of the mountains—just like Gennai had said it would be. It was filled with Rookie-level digimon, and obviously—the village was called _"Rookie Village"._

They were greeted by a pink bunny-looking digimon called Cutemon. They told Cutemon about what had happened to them that day, who they are, and what they need.

She lead them to the nearest hut in the village. Inside the hut were three other digimon, Bokomon, Terriermon, and a Lalamon. They left Palmon and Hawkmon with them to get patched up. Cutemon took everyone else to her hut, offering to feed them some dinner and give them a place to sleep. Garurumon de-digivolved back into Gabumon and followed them into the hut. The four humans, and Gabumon and Patamon, all sat wooden table inside the hut.

They could smell a mouth-watering aroma of Cutemon's soup that she made. The moment they smelt the aroma, they could feel all their bellies growl in anticipation. Cutemon giggled as she heard all of their grumbling tummies, and brought everyone her vegetable soup, as she filled a bowl, one by one, and placed it on a tray that she brought to the table.

They all grabbed each bowl, as Cutemon ran over and quickly grabbed some spoons for them. She dashed back to the table and passed the spoons around.

"Wow, this looks great. Thanks for taking us in and helping out our friends." Matt took a sip of the warm soup.

"Oh, don't mention it. When you told me you were the Digidestined, how could I refuse to help? Don't worry about Hawkmon and Palmon, my friends will take good care of them. So tell me, how do you like my soup? It's my specialty!" She poured herself a bowl of soup and sat by Yolei and Mimi.

"It tastes really good. Thank you for sharing it with us." Mimi smiled.

"Thanks so much for letting us stay for the night." Yolei chimed in.

"Well, I'm glad to be of help! And it pleases me that the Digidestined are enjoying my cooking. Oh, but tell me…which one of you goes by the name of Yolei?" Cutemon asked.

"I'm Yolei. How did you know my name?"

"Lord Azulongmon told me in a dream years ago that if I ever run into a Digidestined by the name of Yolei, I should take her to the secret treasure our village keeps hidden." Cutemon explained.

"Secret treasure?"

"It must be your Crest, Yolei!" T.K. exclaimed with enthusiasm.

Yolei pulled out the tag from around her neck which she had tucked under her shirt, sure enough, it was dimly glowing and just barely pulsing in a similar way to Mimi's own earlier. "Oh wow, I didn't even notice. I guess I was so focused on Hawkmon and stuff…that I didn't even realize it was close by. Cutemon, could you please, if it's not too much trouble, take me there right now?"

"Of course, I'd be glad too. Right this way! Oh, everyone else, just relax here and eat your fill, we shall be back momentarily." Cutemon hopped out of her chair and led Yolei out the door.

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><p>Cutemon led Yolei all the way to the base of the mountain and there Cutemon pulled away some of the plants and vines from the rock wall. Yolei had wondered to herself what Cutemon could possibly be doing. When Cutemon had finished tearing away at the plants and vines, she pushed in a rock and it made a clicking sound. That's when Yolei realized that it was actually a switch; a small doorway began to open in the side of the mountain way, revealing a long case of stairs that went deep beneath the mountain. Cutemon signaled for Yolei to follow her through the dim stairway, the only source of light they had was the light of the sun-gradually getting smaller and smaller as they went further down…and Yolei's tag, that was continuously blinking with a magenta-colored light.<p>

The stairs led to a large room, Yolei rubbed the sides of her arm, thinking that they must be very deep below the mountain, for she felt the cold air prickle against her skin, making Goosebumps rise. In the center of the room was what looked like a shrine of some sort made out of stone and some other kind of rock. In the middle of shrine was what looked like a large stone table and there was something engraved on the top of it. It looked like a crescent moon, on the side of it's back, facing upwards…like a grin. Within the crescent shape was an "O" shape and within that circle was another smaller circle. The top of the stone table blinked in unison with Yolei's tag. She nearly stumbled backwards as she watched a bright magenta-colored light envelop the square rock, shrinking it to a tiny square that slid itself into her tag. She paused, gazing down and marveling at it as it was, without a doubt, her Crest. Cutemon interrupted Yolei's silent awestruck moment, tugging at the girl's sock. She instantly gave the pink digimon her attention.

"Shall we go back and finish our dinner with the others?" Cutemon smiled and titled her head.

"Sure, that sounds great but uhhh- Cutemon…do you know what this Crest is called? Mimi and the others were telling me earlier each Crest has a name to represent an attribute." Yolei asked, peering back down at her Crest.

"I'm afraid I do not know what it is called. I'm sorry." Cutemon frowned.

"Oh, that's ok. I'm certain I can figure it out eventually." Her eyebrows creased with disappointment but she gave Cutemon a smile in spite of her feelings.

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><p>Tai and the others managed to find a small lake just a few miles away from where they had discovered Sora and Kari's Crests. They decided they'd pitch camp there for the night. Tai was teaching Davis how to set up a proper camp fire. Sora and Kari went to go fetch fresh water for everyone, Izzy typed away on his lap top, recording the data of the digimon they had seen earlier into his computer- as well as uploading the map Gennai sent him earlier to his digivice.<p>

"So why are we digging a hole in the ground again Tai?" Davis asked, digging away at the dirt with his hands.

"It'll be much easier and safer if we make it kinda like a fire pit. First, we'll dig a shallow hole, put in some sticks, leaves and twigs…and then we'll build a small Teepee over it with the rest of the sticks. Then of course, you place rocks all around it so the fire won't get out. It's something Joe taught me and Matt a while back. Not only is it safer, but with the twigs beneath and the stuff above on fire, it actually cooks food a bit better, because heat will be locked within it, keeping it burning longer." Tai explained.

"Oh, that's kinda cool. Hey after this can I help you with the fish!" Davis exclaimed.

"Sure, but one thing you have to remember about fishing Davis…" Tai grinned, "It takes patience."

"I can be patient." He pouted in annoyance.

"Ok…if you're sure. Ok, that's good, I think it's good enough, let's put in the twigs, sticks and leaves in the hole." Tai started to do so as he spoke, Davis following along.

"That's great; now let me show you how to make a Teepee with the sticks around it. While Joe taught us how to do this, Matt was actually the best at it. He made some of the best campfires out of us." Tai smiled at the memory of their adventures during their first time in the Digital World. He chuckled to himself as a lot of those memories were of Joe's nagging.

"Like this, Tai?" Davis finished setting up the teepee of sticks over the hole, just like the older boy had shown him.

He inspected it, giving the preteen a big grin with a thumbs up, "That's perfect Davis, you're almost as good as Matt with this on your first try."

"Really?" He beamed at the compliment given to him by the older boy.

"Yep. Now let's put all the rocks around it." They finished by surrounding their campfire with the small rocks.

"But we don't have a lighter or anything. How are we gonna start the fire? Rub two sticks together or something…?" Tai just shook his head at the younger boy.

"Naw, we don't need those, we have something better." Tai looked at Agumon who was sitting next to him.

On cue, Agumon sat up and opened his mouth, "Pepper Breath!"

The sticks enveloped in flames and the air was filled with the sound of the fire crackling. Agumon nodded proudly and Davis and Veemon both glomped him while Davis gave the dinosaur a nooggie. Tai just sweatdropped and shook his head. He could tell that Agumon was seriously uncomfortable, with his bruises still not fully healed.

"Way to go, Agumon!"

"Ow! Guys, knock it off!"

Tai let out a sigh, scratching his head, he pried Veemon off and Davis took notice of this, letting go of Agumon. Tai just gave Davis a blank expression, though Davis has seen this expression before, it is the same face his mother or father would give him when he either said or did something wrong.

"Davis…Agumon still hasn't healed yet, you know." Tai said, surprisingly in a calm tone.

"I'm sorry…I kinda forgot about that. It won't happen again." Davis scratched his cheek.

"Yeah, sorry, Agumon." Veemon sat next to the orange dinosaur.

"That's ok. No harm done."

"Alright, since we don't have Mimi's fishing hooks, let me show you how we had to fish without them." Tai signaled for the boy to follow him to the lake and he turned back to Veemon and Agumon, "You two watch the fire, and make sure it keeps burning. We'll be back with dinner in a jiff!"

"What's a 'jiff'?" Veemon turned to Agumon and the other digimon just shrugged.

"Here we go." Tai found two sharp sticks that had broken off the tree branches of a lonely little tree that was apart from the others by the lake. The sticks were about as long as Tai's arm. He tossed one over to Davis, before taking off his shoes and socks. Tai took a few steps into the shallow shore water, turned to the other boy and joked, "It's a shame we don't have Gatomon with us, I bet she could catch a bunch of fish."

Davis threw off his shoes and socks, running up to join Tai, "So, where are the fish?"

"Patience, Davis…" Tai teased, then turned back to the water, "One interesting thing I found out in the Digital World is that during sunset the fish like to come up to the shores in the lakes, probably to eat something. Hey, I think I see some over here. Now, Davis, be quiet and patient, alright. We don't want to scare them away."

"I do know how to be patient, you know…" Davis mumbled. The older boy managed to snag two fishes on his stick. Davis struggled…for the next fifteen minutes he couldn't even bag one fish. Meanwhile, Tai had captured three more, in addition to his first. Tai chuckled softly as he noticed the other boy was getting frustrated. He trotted through the water to him and placed his hand on Davis's shoulder.

"Dude, you need to relax. Don't let yourself get frustrated, just take a deep breath and-"

"I know, I know…be patient." He groaned.

Tai laughed again and spoke calmly, "That's right, so don't let yourself get frustrated. Just take a few deep breaths and watch the fish carefully. Follow your instincts…only bring the stick down when you are certain you will have that fish nabbed."

Davis closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He could feel his frustration slipping away; he opened his eyelids and watched the fish in the water. A few minutes passed, on an impulse, Davis stabbed the stick into the water, a smile forming on his face. He had finally caught himself a fish and it was a fat one too.

"I did it, Tai! I did it!" Davis practically jumped up and down, proud of his achievement.

"That's awesome! But don't jump around so much, you might scare the fish away!" Tai laughed-seeing Davis locked his feet to the ground, as if gravity wouldn't be doing that already, "Ok. That's good, keep that up and we'll all have plenty to eat. I'm gonna go dump these fish into a pile on the shore we'll catch a few more and head back, sound good?"

"No problem!"

Davis turned his attention back to fishing as Tai removed the fish from his stick one by one. Tai managed to catch a whole bunch of fish, about ten in total. Davis only managed to catch about three more but he was still very proud of himself. Sora and Kari filled up all of the water bottles and also brought back more firewood. They made a pile of sticks right next to Veemon and then the two went to fetch some of the mushrooms Kari had found earlier…Biyomon and Gatomon checked them and dubbed them safe to eat, as Biyomon had seen this type of mushroom before and remembered that they weren't poisonous. Tai and Davis decided to wash off the fish in a small spring near the lake which Kari and Sora used for fetching water. Tentomon ran over to Tai and Davis and handed them a large leaf he had found that was about the size of Agumon. They placed the fish on the leaf, wrapped it up, and carried it back to the campfire.

"Hey, Tentomon, could you grab us a few extra sticks for cooking?" Tai asked.

"I'm on it!" Tentomon ran off. Tai sat down next to Agumon; Davis sat on the other side next to Veemon.

"Hey, Davis…what you did back there for Kari…that was the most reckless thing I have ever seen." Tai narrowed his eyes.

"I know, I wasn't thinking…but you see, I-"

A grin formed on Tai's face, "Relax, I'm just messing with you. Thank you, for saving my sister."

"Oh…umm, don't mention it!" Davis sighed in relief and grinned back at the older boy, "No way was I going to let those jerks hurt Kari."

"Yeah, I'll bet. That was pretty brave. Kari was quite lucky to have you look out for her." Tai grinned slyly at the younger boy.

"Y-you think so, huh?" He laughed, twiddling his thumbs and stared into the fire, his cheeks burning pink, "Well, Kari is…special. Like a friend you know-I mean! She's a special friend! No one can replace her…and her…_friendship_…When do you think Tentomon is getting back, I'm ready to cook this grub!"

"_What- does this kid think I was born yesterday?_" Tai's deadpanned into his own thoughts; staring blankly at Davis. He chuckled to himself but then let out a sigh.

"Seriously though, Davis…that was pretty reckless. And I know why you did it too. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with doing whatever you can in order to protect the people around you-what you did was a good thing. I myself have been pretty reckless sometimes in the past too. All I'm saying is, just remember, we're not invincible here. The digimon here can never really die; they are reborn anytime they are destroyed. That's in their data…that's how they work-and that's how it works for them here. But we're human beings…we don't get reborn-we can die here just like in our world too. So all I'm saying is, continue to protect the people you care about- but still be careful. There is a family of yours back home that I know would be devastated if something happened to you. Sometimes our head and our hearts tell us different things to do, so whenever another situation occurs, listen to both, your head and your heart, not one or the other. And from there…just do what feels the most right to you."

"But Tai…how will I know what-"

"Trust me on this…you'll know when the time comes." Tai smiled.

Tentomon returned with the extra sticks and not too long after Sora and Kari arrived with the mushrooms they had collected. They stuck the fish and mushrooms onto the sticks, cooking them over the fire.

Davis grabbed the four he had caught; he handed two of them over to Veemon and gave his digimon a couple of sticks. He smiled proudly at the big fat one that was his first catch, he looked back at the fish, then at Kari.

"Umm…here Kari. You can have this one." He looked away, holding back the urge to blush, as he handed the girl the fat fish on the stick.

"Wow, I think this one is the biggest fish of them, you sure you want me to have it Davis?" Kari blinked at the boy who wasn't making eye contact.

"Well it was the first fish I caught, ever, so yeah-I think it's ok for me to decide who gets to eat it." He continued to fight back a blush with all his might.

"The first fish you caught _ever, _Davis, I can't have this, you should eat it." She tried to give it back to the boy but Davis just crossed his arms.

"No, Kari…I-I want you to have it. Catching it was just awesome enough for me." The smaller fish Davis was cooking for himself was done, he pulled it out, and chowed down on it, "So it's ok with me…I'm giving it to you."

Davis was about to take another bite, but felt something soft touch his hand, he turned and saw Kari smiling sweetly, "Thanks, Davis, that's very nice of you."

He couldn't fight it anymore; his whole cheeks turned bright pink, "_Kari actually held my hand…awesome!_"

"Tai…is it just me, or does that Davis kid have a thing for your sister?" Sora whispered.

"Please, tell me you haven't only _now _noticed this." Tai replied in sarcasm. Sora just blinked and Tai slapped his forehead, "Sora, you have to be kidding me…the kid couldn't get anymore obvious!"

"Well, I haven't exactly been paying attention to how the guy acts around your sister, we've sorta been busy with either getting food, hiking, or running from evil digimon." Sora just rolled her eyes at Tai.

"Yeah, I suppose you have a point." Tai teased, taking a bite into his fish. "But hey, whatever excuses you make Sora- as long as they make you feel better."

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" Sora lightly punched Tai in the shoulder and he let out a laugh. Izzy just looked around at everyone, shook his head and took another bite of his fish while he typed away. Veemon nibbled on the two fish Davis gave him. Biyomon, Tentomon and Gatomon ate together quietly, eating their fish and mushrooms. Agumon was munching down on the pile of fish Tai had placed in front of him.

"I'm a way more observant person than you." Sora jabbed her finger in Tai's direction.

"Could have fooled me…" Tai stuck his thumb on his nose, wiggling his fingers and stuck his tongue out.

Sora couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous face Tai was making, "Wow, real mature Tai."

"Eh, I try." Tai just shrugged and took another bite of fish.

"So how's Agumon doing?" Sora asked, placing the bone of her fish down in the dirt, working on her finishing mushrooms next.

"He's getting better; he can walk on his own now without feeling too much pain. I think with a full belly and a good night's rest, he'll be fine by tomorrow morning." Tai sat his fish bone down as well; Sora passed Tai some mushrooms.

"That's good, I was a bit worried. So Tai…what are we planning on doing after we all find our Crests?" Sora gazed into the crackling flames.

"Well, unless Gennai pops up with some sort of different plan- following with expositions…" Tai joked, Sora giggled in response but then Tai's face turned serious, "Take the fight to Etemon, the Dark Masters and then Apocalymon. Unless somebody comes to tell us otherwise, that's what I'm thinking we should do."

"What about these _Dark Ones…_as they are called. We know next to nothing about them. Just how strong do you think they are?" Sora wrapped her arms around her legs. She felt a tender hand wrapping its fingers around her arm; she looked over at Tai and a small smile formed on his lips.

"I'm not sure, Sora…but we'll figure things out eventually…like we always do. And whoever those Dark-bozos are, we'll just kick their cans too!" Tai clenched his other fist and gave the girl a more confident smile; she returned the smile, nodding her head.

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><p>Joe finished with the set up of camp and cooking their dinner. He and Gomamon caught a tasty-looking bunch of fish, Cody was setting up the blankets with Armadillomon and Ken and Wormmon had just barely come back, bringing some extra firewood. Ken noticed his tag was blinking as he sat down to eat.<p>

"Look…my tag!" The black-haired boy held it up and almost dropped his fish as a result.

"Wow, how about that? It hasn't even been a day yet." Joe grabbed his chin, intently looking at the dimly, pulsing tag in Ken's hands.

"We should go and see if we can-" Joe held his hand out, almost like a cop halting traffic; Ken stopped what he was going to say.

"That tag is going to continue doing that no matter what time of the day it is. The sun has practically gone down now; one of the things I don't have packed in here is a flashlight. It's dark in these woods, and we don't know how safe it is wandering the night. We should go when its morning, with the light out, it would be safer and easier to see. Besides you hurt your leg Ken, it wouldn't be smart to go out stumbling in the dark." He stated.

"But I'm fine, Joe, honest." Ken frowned, "It's just a bruise."

"Yeah, but with it dark out, what if something happens again, it might end up more than just a bruise." Joe pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose, "Like I said, it's going to be blinking like that no matter what time of the day it is. There is no rush right now; we're going to wait until morning when it's safe."

Cody just quietly ate his meal, absorbing the conversation of the two older boys. He thought to himself that Joe was right and that it was the smartest and safest decision. Ken just sighed in defeat and dropped the subject, knowing he couldn't change the oldest member's mind. They all finished their meals and turned in for the night. Their digimon all snuggled up to them and everyone but Ken had fallen asleep. He just laid there, looking up at the wind blowing through the tree branches, he held the dimly-glowing tag above his head. An image of his older brother appeared in his mind.

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><p><em><span>-Flashback-<span>_

_The young Ichijoji boy was only curious, he just wanted to see the strange device he and his older brother saw pop out of the computer. Sam told him not to touch it but Ken just wanted to look at it a little bit. He wasn't going to play with it; he just wanted to see it. He opened up the drawer; his little face could barely contain that huge grin, filled with curiosity. As soon as Ken's small fingers took hold of the digivice a bright light illuminated from it. Ken was now a combination of excitement, further curiosity and yet…fear. He didn't even hear his older brother come into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him._

"_Ken!" The older boy snatched the digivice out of the kid's hands and the light faded almost instantly. "Just what do you think you're doing, we don't know what that thing is or what it does, I thought I told you not to touch it, what if something happened?" _

"_I didn't break it." Ken smiled, in hopes that his brother wouldn't be mad at him._

"_That doesn't matter, Ken…I told you not to play with it and you went right in and did it anyway." Sam raised his voice. The younger child shrank within his own skin. His brother was mad. _

"_I'm…sorry." Ken squeezed out of his voice box._

"_When I tell you something, it's important! I don't just say things for the fun of it. Why can't you just ever listen to me?" Sam picked up the digivice and placed it back into the drawer._

"_I won't do it again Sam." Ken looked down at the carpet in guilt._

"_That's what you said last time Ken…how do you expect me to trust you?" Sam glared down at the digivice then slammed the drawer shut. "What if you got hurt, Ken? Mom and Dad would be looking for someone to blame and it'd be me…not you."_

"_B-But I…"_

"_You have to be more careful! It's my job to look after you, and if something happened it'll be my fault!" _

"_Nobody would care if something happened to me…" Ken mumbled._

"_What?"_

"_Mom and Dad always pay attention to you, not me. I know they love you more because you're bigger and smarter than me." Ken choked back the tears he could feel were coming. _

"_What are you talking about Ken, of course Mom and Dad love you, don't be ridiculo-"_

"_As long as you're around, I'll never get them to notice me! They don't care about me at all; it's only you they care about! Sometimes…sometimes I wish you'd just disappear!" Ken couldn't fight back the tears anymore, he turned and ran out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him._

_-End of Flashback-_

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><p>"I'm…sorry Sam." Ken shut his eyes tightly, hoping it would stop the tears from coming. "<em>Those were…the last words I ever said to you. Maybe if I weren't so helpless…you'd still be here. Sam…you could do anything. You'd still be hiking through this all even if you broke both of your legs. That's probably why this digivice was meant for you…and you'd probably…go out there looking for your Crest, telling me to stay behind.<em>"

He stood up, careful not to wake Wormmon who was resting in his arms. Ken followed the direction the tag was guiding him to take, its dim light, the only light that could be seen within the dark woods.

"_Alright, if it's Sam they wanted…then Ken Ichijoji will stay behind._"

A few hours passed and Cody rubbed his eyes, his throat feeling dry. He got up, and dragged his feet to the river, scooping some of the cold water into his hands and taking a sip. He dragged his feet back to the campsite, only to gasp in shock, noticing Ken's spot was empty. He jumped over to Joe, calling the older Digidestined's name and shaking him.

Joe yawned and put on his glasses, "What is it, Cody?"

"Ken's missing, Joe!" Cody shouted, waking up both Armadillomon and Gomamon.

"What?" Joe was ready to rip his hair out.

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><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Ken…trying to be more like Sam is NOT good for your health!…or Joe's.**

**Tai sees all Davis. Obvious crush is obvious.**

**Bokomon appeared in Digimon Frontier (you can see his image on the Digimon wiki so you can know exactly what he looks like if you've never watched it).**

**Terriermon appeared in both the Digimon Movie and Digimon Tamers (same as above).**

**Cutemon appears in Digimon Xros Wars (same as above).**

**Lalamon appears in Digimon Data Squad/Savers (same as above).  
><strong>

**I will upload a picture on deviantart of Cody, Davis and Yolei's Crest designs some point in the near future. I will also reveal their names in the near future too. I am quite proud of the picks- I think these are VERY fitting Crests for the three.**

**113 reviews…WOW! JUST WOW! I didn't think I would even break 100 before chapter 9! Boy did you guys prove me wrong! XD My own beta was the 100****th**** reviewer, so kudos, Amy!**

**I can't wait for everyone's thoughts- but flames are not allowed, any flamers will be forced to listen to Agumon and Gomamon sing. **

**(THE HORROR)**

**Thanks for your support everyone, and special thanks to LithiumRukia beta'ing this chapter.**


	10. It's Your Power I Need

**Chapter 10: It's _Your_ Power I Need  
><strong>

**_Re-edit Note: (May 7, 2013)_ ****_Okay so here comes chapter 10 of the re-edit. I still got 11-15 left to go to get my re-edits all done (almost finished!), so everything looks and matches my later chapters. It's funny how after you completely change your writing style and you go back and look at what you previous typed up and cringe. I mean okay it wasn't that bad…but it definitely had room for improvement. (Plus there were several details I needed to change or correct anyway.)_**

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><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

It was dark, making it difficult to see, but Ken had made certain to be especially careful of where he was heading. After all, he didn't want to be further injured or wake Wormmon, who was still fast asleep in his arms. He smiled down at the green bug in his arms and could tell from Wormmon's deep breathing and occasional mumbling that the digimon was having a good dream.

"_It's nice to know one of us is…_" Ken sighed to himself, as he glanced at the pulsing tag in his right hand.

Ken felt a bit bad, not only because he knew that he had basically disobeyed Joe's instruction, but he hadn't been entirely honest with everyone lately. He still vividly recalled Davis, T.K., Yolei and Kari asking him the other morning if he had been alright. They all gave him encouragement and told him that they'd be there for him. Something was indeed bothering him. He was honest when he said he had a decent sleep the night before—and that he endured some restless nights without sleep—but he didn't tell them the whole truth…and that made him feel guilty. They did genuinely want to help him, but Ken didn't tell them what was going on.

"_Though…I don't see how telling them I'm having nightmares will help. That's not going to make them go away. After I find the crest, I'll have to figure out why I'm having these nightmares for myself. I don't think anyone can really help me with this. I don't even think Sam could have helped me with this._" Ken began to slow his pace as he felt the ground become a little bit more uneven.

"_Joe's probably going to be really upset though…not that I can blame him. But…they have to understand, this is something I need to do._" Ken thought to himself.

Ken noticed the pulse of the tag was taking him in more of a North West than Western direction. It carried him into a darker part of the woods and Ken felt around and found a broken—off tree branch that was about half as tall as he was. He figured that the most intelligent thing to do was to use it like a walking stick, like those he had seen blind persons use and that way he could probably prevent himself from getting his leg caught in something or tripping.

Ken then stopped, hearing voices, and hid in the bushes. They were those guys from earlier…the Mamemon brothers, and Giromon—the one who was the leader of this bunch. They all held torches in their hands to enable them to see. But what really caught Ken's attention was a floating orb-like thing which had the image of a monkey wearing sunglasses inside of it. The thing sounded like an Elvis Presley impersonator.

"So those pesky fugitives got away? That what you're telling me?" The Elvis-monkey asked.

"Regretfully so I'm afraid—Master Etemon." The Giromon stated.

"_So that's Etemon! He's one of the enemies we have to fight._" Ken thought.

"But we'd like to inform you that we spotted twelve human intruders that a group of digimon seemed to be helping…but no worries there. We took care of them all in an instant for ya!" One of the MetalMamemon spoke up.

"Yeah, that's what I like to hear boys." Etemon grinned and then asked, "Just out of curiosity, what did the humans look like? And what kind of digimon were with them?"

"Hmmm…well they all were kids basically. I don't remember all the digimon that were helping them…but I do remember there was two blond boys, and two girls with them. I remember there was a Togemon, a Garurumon helping them…I especially remember that annoying Angemon." One of the Mamemon spoke up.

"Two blond boys? A Togemon? A Garurumon? And a Angemon?" Etemon questioned.

"Yeah, and there was a kid with glasses and blue hair with a Gomamon." Giromon stated.

"Glasses and a Gomamon?" Etemon was starting to show signs of annoyance.

"Yeah, and I remember a spiky brown-haired boy who was pals with a Greymon." One of the other Mamemon chimed in.

"Boy with spiky brown hair…and a Greymon?" Etemon snapped, "YOU NUMBSKULLS!"

"Uh…Lord Etemon…sir?" The other MetalMamemon spoke up in fear.

"Sounds to me like the Digidestined! You expect me to believe you actually finished them off?"

"But sir, you told us there were only eight of them, and they can't digivolve further to be a threat!" Another Mamemon spoke up.

"Ya! No threat!" One of the BigMamemon repeated.

"There is no way any of them survived what we did to them!" Giromon exclaimed.

"Shut up morons! You better check every inch of this place and make certain they're dead—or you'll be the ones bitin' the dust!" Etemon and the orb vanished.

"You heard the man, Fellas'! Split up and confirm bodies or we're in for it!" Giromon announced as they all took off into the sky.

"_Good, they're gone. I better hurry and find that crest._" Ken came out of his hiding spot, and continued following the pull of his tag.

* * *

><p>Joe and Cody hid behind one of the trees, seeing a very familiar group of digimon pass overhead. Joe knew he had to hurry and find Ken, especially with these guys still around. It was safe enough to come out of hiding, and after much pondering and consideration, Joe decided that lighting a torch was worth the risk—since the Mamemon brothers were far enough away for them not to see the source of the light. Joe pulled out his digivice, remembering the way Izzy showed him how to track the other Digidestined with it. He held it close to the torch, to shine some light on it. Sure enough, he saw two little dots right by each other—they were Cody and himself…the dot being very far away, all by itself. Joe knew that had to be Ken.<p>

"_I don't understand why Ken didn't listen to Joe. First he is perfectly fine with leaving everyone else, and now this. He's always quiet and keeping to himself. I just don't get it. Does he think he knows better than Joe or something?_" Cody seethed quietly.

Cody knew that he shouldn't be quick to judge; his grandpa taught him better than that, but ever since he had witnessed Ken attacking Davis when he woke up after receiving the injury Devimon…Cody just couldn't help but feel this way.

"_Why would he do that anyway? I'm pretty sure no matter how scared you are, you wouldn't attack your friends. Davis was trying to help him…and he just attacked him! That's the other thing that makes no sense, how come the others can just trust Ken so easily after that. Even Yolei seems to trust him a bit. I don't get it._" The boy's eyebrows creased in frustration.

Joe bent back a few of the low branches as they were walking so they wouldn't get lost and would know how to get back. It was incredibly quiet and amazingly both Joe and Gomamon were thinking the exact same thoughts about their atmosphere. Gomamon tried to lighten the mood with a knock-knock joke—several of them, in fact…and Joe wasn't exactly in the mood for jokes—but he figured it was better than this awkward quiet.

"I'm sorry, Gomamon…I'm not up to knock-knock jokes at the moment." Cody said politely. Truthfully he was a little bit annoyed that the digimon was making jokes while they were searching for Ken, but Cody didn't want to be rude about, that's Joe's partner, so Cody felt he had no right to be annoyed with Gomamon.

"Oh that's okay, I'll tell them to ya later." Gomamon piped up.

"Thanks, ummm…are we getting any closer to Ken?" Cody asked.

"Well not quite, he's moving, but we'll catch up to him once he reaches the location of his crest. The good news is that with this signaling Ken is moving, it tells me that he's not overdoing it—or injured. That at least makes me relieved." Joe quickly showed Cody his digivice, pointing out the dots that represented each of them and the one that signaled Ken.

"Joe…aren't you mad?"

"Mad? Well a little bit. But I'm more worried than mad. The two of you haven't been in the Digital World as long as I have. Ken wouldn't know what to expect, and wandering off at night and with those goons still around, yeah I'd say I'm definitely more worried than mad. Are you mad?" Joe asked.

"I…well…yeah. I mean, you're older than us and more experienced. My grandpa always says to respect your elders and listen to them. And he didn't, which just feels disrespectful." Cody didn't want to voice his distrust of Ken, because he felt ashamed that, unlike the others, he couldn't seem to bring himself to trust Ken.

"Well, don't get too mad over it, Cody, after all, I'd rather use my energy finding Ken than being mad at him. Besides, I don't think he's intentionally trying to be disrespectful. I just think Ken is confused and is only trying to do what he thinks is right. We just got to make certain he's safe, we're a team after all." Joe looked ahead into the dark forest, taking each step cautiously.

"That's right, we stick together! All for one and one for all!" Gomamon perked up. Joe chuckled at his digimon.

"_A team, huh…Davis said the same thing. A team…I know I need to get over my distrust over Ken, if we're going to all be a team…but, does Ken even realize we're supposed to be a team?_" Cody stared at the flickering flame on the stick in Joe's hand.

"I just hope he's going to be alright." Armadillomon said.

* * *

><p>Several hours passed, it was just barely dawn. Wormmon yawned and he woke up to see Ken's face smiling down at him. Wormmon was a bit confused as he looked around and did not see Joe, Cody, Armadillomon or Gomamon. In fact, they weren't at their campsite at all.<p>

"Good morning Wormmon. Did you sleep okay?" Wormmon noticed there were bags under Ken's eyes. "Ken what's going on? Where are the others?"

"I'm sorry; I know what you're thinking. Yes, I did sneak off. I didn't want to wake you, but look, Wormmon…" Ken pointed to a stone temple ahead of them,

"That's where my crest is, I bet."

"You should have waited until now to go, you didn't get any sleep, _did_ you?"

"Yeah, but to be honest, I tried to take a nap along the way here a few times…but I just couldn't fall asleep last night, so I figured I'd keep going. We'll just get the crest and head back. Joe and Cody will probably be worried, but I'm certain they'll understand once I explain things to them." Ken remarked, thinking about last night and the conversation he had overheard with Etemon.

"Well…okay…I know I can't stop you. Just please don't do something like this next time." Wormmon hopped out of Ken's arms and followed him up the steps to the old, worn down building.

The tag pulsed faster and faster. Once inside Ken found another set of stairs that trailed up about two stories. What Ken found interesting was that there was something glowing behind the curtains. He pulled it open and saw a large, square stone. It was a glowing a light purple color, just like his tag. It shrunk, just as Joe's had before, into a tiny crest and inserted itself into Ken's tag.

* * *

><p>"Hang back here, MetalMamemon; I thought I saw something glowing from that building." Giromon instructed his comrade, and flew in, through the window.<p>

"Okay, Wormmon, you ready to head back?" A dark-haired kid and a bug digimon lightly walked towards the stairs.

He couldn't believe it, one of those brats. He remembered, that was one of those three brats he sent on a one-way trip down that river with their digimon. The other two can't possibly too far away.

But this one appears all alone...it was his lucky day.

This would be far too easy for him to take care of this one.

"Well, well, lookie here. One of you survived the falls after all." Giromon made his presence known.

It was hilarious to see the panic register in their eyes. The boy and his Wormmon bolted down the stairs, the digimon hot on their tails.

Oh but they won't get away though. Their little _"journey"_ was going to end here.

Giromon personally planned on seeing to that.

He flew after the two, cackling as he chased them down. This was always his favorite part. The chase—watching his prey flee, the panic in their eyes, the desperation in their blood...

This job was no fun unless you couldn't find some enjoyment in it.

* * *

><p>"Sticky Net!"<p>

Wormmon turned to the Giromon and shot his white thread at the evil digimon's eyes, momentarily blinding him.

"Why you little pest! When I get this junk off—you're in for it!" He tried to pry the stick substance off and Wormmon caught up to Ken.

Ken and Wormmon ran so fast, Ken felt slightly dizzy and accidentally missed a step when they finally got to the bottom, landing on his left foot in an unnatural position and finding himself on a date with gravity. Ken winced, letting out a small cry of pain as his bruised ankle crashed into a sharp rock.

"Ken! You're bleeding!" Wormmon ran up to inspect the boy's leg, "Can you move it?"

Ken tried to stand, but the pain in his leg caused him to tumble back down again. Ken bit down on the inside of his lip, as he winced at the pain that shot through his ankle. It really hurt!

Of course, he was always so unlucky...though he supposed he deserved this. Joe warned him not to go off on his own and now this happened. This always happens. Maybe he wouldn't always have to be punished with pain all the time if he just listened...

_"Just like when Sam warned me not to play in the...no...I'm not going to think about that right now." _Ken shook his head to banish the memory that always plagued him.

He turned his head to face Wormmon, the digimon looked so worried. So scared...for him. Of course, another thing Ken was guilty of...he wasn't invisible to Sam...he wasn't invisible to his Digidestined teammates...he wasn't invisible to Wormmon. Those he wasn't invisible too, he was always guilty of making them concerned for him. Worrying over him...

They shouldn't...they really shouldn't.

"It's no good, I think I must have sprained it when I took a wrong step before my crash landing." Ken hissed through his teeth.

"Ha! You idiots thought you could run? Nice try!" Giromon had caught up.

"Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!"

"No, Stingmon, he's too strong! You can't win!"

Despite Ken's plea's, Stingmon was determined to protect Ken. Giromon was barraging Stingmon with attacks like his Giro Chainsaw, or with his grenade attack. But Stingmon wasn't going to let anything hurt Ken so he continued to get up, only to take more abuse.

"No! Stingmon! Please, just run away! You have to get away!" Ken pleaded then silently pleaded in a small voice, "Please Stingmon…I can't lose _you_ too."

"Big Bang Boom!" Giromon threw more of his explosive grenades at Stingmon but the digimon refused to backdown, "Wow, I'm impressed, Bug…for a Champion level, you're actually surviving these attacks. But do yourself a favor that will save you from a lot of pain…just stay down. I promise both of you will get a quick death."

"I will never stay down, not when Ken's life is in danger! I'll protect him even if it costs me my own!" Stingmon yelled.

"No…please! Don't die just to save me!" Ken cried out, his eyes welled up with tears that he's been fighting back.

Stingmon continued to get pummeled but unbeknownst to Giromon, he managed to grab a handful of dirt that was on the ground. When Giromon came in for another attack, Stingmon threw the dirt into Giromon's eyes. Giromon growled and yelled at Stingmon, humiliated that the insect digimon managed to temporarily blind him twice.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon struck Giromon in the face, a small cut forming between his eyes.

"You insolent little! Make a fool of me? Come here! Where are you!" Giromon destroyed the area around him with his chainsaw, his vision still fuzzy.

Stingmon grabbed Ken and flew out of the building, but he was so weak from the battle that he crashed into the dirt at the foot of the stairs, just outside the temple. Ken ignored how dirt was now all over his face and some in his mouth.

He didn't care about that. He didn't care about any of that.

He sat up and grabbed the large Champion insect, his arms laced tightly around Stingmon's left arm. He shook the digimon and shook. His heart was racing.

"Stingmon! Please get up!" Ken shook the Champion insect.

"I'm sorry Ken, I know your leg is in pain, but please, try to get away, or at least hide somewhere. I don't think I can take you very far in my state. But at the very least, I can keep that digimon from coming after you." Stingmon struggled to stand up.

"No Stingmon! Don't do this! Please, I don't want anyone else to die because of me!" Ken finally stopped fighting back the tears he had been holding in the whole time.

The tears flowed out slowly at first, as they streamed down his dirty cheeks. His face began to feel slightly sticky, but he still didn't care about that. He just didn't want to see someone die for his sake.

_"Not ever again...not ever again...please I can't take anymore of this!" _Ken's tears began to spill out more.

"Because of you? What are you talking about?" Stingmon at that point, had managed to only pull himself up to his knees, Ken's words were weighed down with such pain and guilt that they pierced Stingmon.

"It's…all my f-fault Sam is dead. And n-now it'll be my fault if something h-happens to you…b-because you're only doing this to protect me." Ken choked back on his tears.

"Ken…I…I'm suppose to protect you. I can't let anything happen to you…but I don't understand. Who's Sam, Ken?" Stingmon asked.

"He's…he's the one who was supposed to be your partner…not me." Ken said so quiet that he wondered if Stingmon hadn't heard him.

"Sam was…he was my older brother. Two years ago…this digivice appeared, it came out of Sam's computer. I know it was meant for Sam and not me. Sam was special. Everyone knew that—he was smarter than everyone, and faster, and—he always looked out for me. I was a nobody, Sam was a somebody…but even then, he still treated me like I wasn't invisible. He was great Wormmon. He really was." Ken never poured these words out before.

But for some reason, being around Stingmon, he felt compelled to pour all this out. Maybe it was because…deep down there were so many things he wished to say to Sam, to tell him how sorry he was, how much he loved his older brother, how much he missed him, how much he wanted him back…how much his brother meant to him. The first person Ken ever knew, who didn't treat him like he was a nobody. He…he saw Ken. He wasn't invisible to his late older brother.

And how did he repay that brother that always looked out for him? Who loved him? Who treated him like he wasn't unimportant? He told his brother to his face that he wished he would just vanish. Disappear forever...the last words, he ever said to his brother. And his brother died...it was all his fault.

It was all his fault.

"He made everyone around him happy. My parents, his teachers, his friends, his classmates, even our neighbors…but he never once ignored me or treated me like, like I didn't exist. He was the best—the Digital World, you, everyone, all would of loved him. He's exactly the kind of person this place, this world, all of you digimon—he's the kind of hero you guys need…but Sam is now…" Ken trembled as the tears continued to fall.

"It's all my fault he's gone Stingmon. I'm to blame…but, that's why the Digital World called me here. I know it is. Sam is gone, and they need a replacement. I have to make it up to them for being the reason Sam was taken away. I can never tell Sam how sorry I am…but at the very least, I'll fill the hole that was left behind, I owe him that much." He choked through his sobs.

His heart was pounding in his head. His brain felt dizzy, he wasn't sure if it was the fatigue or all the sobbing (though it probably was a combination of the two). He literally sobbed so hard he began to cough.

He felt Stingmon rub his hand on Ken's back. Ken looked up at his digimon, blinked through puffy eyes. His coughing fit finally stopped, but the river of tears continued to pour out form his eyelids.

"Ken…I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you lost someone who is obviously very dear to you. I'm sorry that you had to endure this pain, but Ken you are mistaken…I know for a fact, that the human partner I was destined to fight with…is named Ken Ichijouji." Stingmon spoken gently.

Everything momentarily went silent, for a brief second Ken held his breath.

"W-What?" Ken shot his head up and stared straight into Stingmon's large, red eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Ken, I don't know what kind of person your brother is, but he must have been a very good person for you miss him so much. But…being your brother, isn't going to help. The Sovereigns told me, the partner that I will fight with…whose power will become my power…is a kind-hearted human boy named Ken Ichijouji. I don't need Sam's power, I need yours. It's not him I need Ken…it's you." Stingmon placed his hand at the top of the dark-haired boy's head.

"M-me? You need me?"

Stingmon just nodded and Ken found himself choked up with a completely new emotion. A part of him felt stupid and ashamed but…something else was inside, it wasn't a heavy or painful emotion, it was warm and light. The tears that stopped spilling out of Ken's eyes earlier in his shock were now spilling out again—but they were caused by an entirely different emotion.

"I don't have to be my brother? It's me you need…just me?" Ken tried to wipe away the tears, but they just kept flooding out of his eyes, "It's okay for me to be…just me?"

"It's just you I need, no one else. It's more than okay, if it's _just_ you. I've happen to grow fond of _just you, _I don't just need him around, I want him around. So what do you say? Will you lend me Ken Ichijouji's power?" Stingmon managed to drag his body off of the dirt ground, extending his hand down to Ken.

Ken smiled through his tears and took the digimon's hand as he helped the injured boy back to his feet. Ken finally realized what this emotion was…it was happiness and relief. Something he honestly hadn't felt in a long time. But it was more than that…someone needed him, someone wanted him…someone accepted him. Sure the other Digidestined tried befriending him, and were kind to him. They showed him care and concern. But he kept himself away, it was fear, but he wasn't sure why. But to hear someone verbalize what Ken wanted, needed, to hear all along...he felt so happy. He promised himself he would do better not to turn away his fellow teammates when they are trying to befriend him again.

He didn't feel so alone anymore, he tried wiping more of his tears, but they continued to pour out of the boy's eyes as he silently laughed. His crest dimly glowed, unbeknownst to its owner.

"I promise, I'll do my best from now on…as Ken Ichijouji."

"There you rats are! Now I got ya!" Giromon shot out of the place, barreling down on the two of them.

Stingmon pushed Ken behind him, readied himself to fight.

"Stingmon—!"

"Ken…stand back, I'll take care of this." Stingmon interrupted Ken and the boy just nodded in response.

Stingmon lunged at Giromon, Giromon still clearly having the upper-hand. But Stingmon was filled with a new sense of resolve which helped him endure Giromon's attacks.

"_Stingmon…you believed in me…thank you. Now I can believe in myself, just like I believe in you._" Ken whispered into his thoughts, his crest and digivice burned brightly, "Stingmon!"

Suddenly Stingmon's body began to envelop with a bright light. Ken felt his crest get hot around his neck and his digivice the same. Ken was in awe, it felt so warm and comforting.

"_This is…Stingmon's power…and mine._"

"Stingmon digivolve to…WarBeemon!"

The digimon looked like Stingmon but it was different. It was a more jade color green instead of a darker color. He was carrying what looked like a javelin, and his insect armor reminded Ken of a knight. He even had long white hair that Ken nearly mistaken for a cape. Ken was awestruck but when he finally snapped out of it, he noticed his digivice felt like it was vibrating and its color changed to that of his crest.

"What the—he digivolved? But how is that possible…?" Giromon backed away a little, "MetalMamemon! Get your butt over here! I need back up!"

MetalMamemon showed up, but so did Cody and Joe, much to Ken's surprise.

"Joe? Cody?" Ken blinked as the teen and young boy with Armadillomon, ran up to Ken.

MetalMamemon threw one of his bombs at WarBeemon, who swatted it away like it was a baseball with his javelin. It smacked exploded right in front of the two enemy digimon. They flew backwards and almost crashed into the building. They managed to halt their one-way flight, and the moment they got control of themselves, they sneered at WarBeemon, both flew at him in a rage frenzy.

But WarBeemon was far too fast for them. He dodged every single one of their attacks. It was getting obvious MetalMamemon and Giromon were getting more angry by the minute.

Giromon came at WarBeemon with his chainsaw, his digimon blocked it with his javelin, holding Giromon back. MetalMamemon planned on using that moment to sneak up behind WarBeemon, claws drawn ready to strike.

Joe turned to Gomamon, Gomamon nodded his head as Joe's digivice and crest began to glow.

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikkakumon…Ikkakumon digivolve to…Zudomon!"

"What? He digivolved too? But they told me the Digidestined lost that power!" Giromon panicked.

Zudomon jumped into the air, and landed next to WarBeemon, the whole earth in that area shook like a minor earthquake, from the weight of the very large Ultimate digimon. MetalMamemon viably backed away the moment Zudomon got in front of him from attacking WarBeemon.

"You got a lot of explaining to do…" Joe frowned and then gasped as he saw Ken's leg, "What on earth…Ken what did you do to your leg? See I knew this kind of thing was going to happen! Why didn't you listen to me, do you realize how worried sick we were?"

"I know, I'm sorry to have worried you. I should have listened to you, Joe…I'm really sorry." Ken peered down at the ground so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with the two boys.

"Well I'm just glad you're in one piece. Apology accepted, now—you better let me take a look at it this time, you understand?" Joe grinned and Ken smiled back with a nod, "Good, now hold still."

MetalMamemon and Giromon aimed and threw their bombs at all three of the human boys, in a desperate attempt, but Zudomon stood in the way, letting his strong large shell absorb the blasts. Both of the evil digimon were about ready to panic because the digimon they were facing certainly weren't pushovers like before. In desperation, they tried to attack one more time, aiming for the human boys again, with their bombs, but the two Ultimate digimon struck first.

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

The blast from Zudomon slamming his hammer into the ground—slammed straight into MetalMamemon and he exploded into digital dust.

"Spike Buster!"

The tip of WarBeemon's Javelin glowed a bright light as he launched it directly at Giromon. It struck the digimon, instantly disintegrating it. Joe, Cody, Ken and Armadillomon all cheered.

* * *

><p>"Way to go, Zudomon!" Joe exclaimed.<p>

Cody let out a breath he was momentarily holding, thankful that it was all over.

"That was amazing…I can't believe that's really you Wormmon. You look good in your Ultimate form." Armadillomon added.

"I take it you found your crest then, Ken?" Joe smiled as he cleaned the large scrape on Ken's leg and then wrapped it in some bandages that he pulled from out of his bag.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what it means…but its mine. It was meant for me." Ken smiled.

Cody blinked in confusion, Joe mimicked his expression, Ken noticed this and waved his hand to dismiss to them what he just said.

"Oh it's nothing anymore…don't worry about it. Stingmon—I mean, WarBeemon, just helped me realize something important about myself."

"Well, that's good to hear." Joe patted the preteen on the back, "Now, no walking on that leg for a little while, you hear me? You sprained that thing; you need to give it some rest."

"Alright, thank you, Joe, and again…I'm sorry to have worried you all."

Cody took a deep breath, he had a lot on his mind, but he needed to talk to Ken, at the moment it felt very important to the eight year old.

"Ken…we're supposed to be a team…right? And teammates don't run off like that." Cody spoke up and Ken looked down at the little boy and nodded.

"You're right, Cody; I shouldn't have run off like that. It wasn't safe. I promise I won't do it again." He smiled down at the younger kid, and extended his hand down. A small smile found its way on Cody's face as he took Ken's hand and shook it.

"Good because—we're teammates! We stick together!" Cody smiled a rare enthusiastic smile.

The young boy always so serious and for once appeared to be as the typical carefree eight year-old child.

"_I hope…we'll become friends, Ken. You're not a bad person…I can tell, you do see us as a team. I hope this means…no matter what, you'll rely on us, and I'll learn to rely on you too...after all, it doesn't make any sense to judge or mistrust a good person, at least, I think that's what Grandpa and Mom would tell me. You'd start to trust him too…right Dad?_" Cody thought to himself.

"That's right guys, we're a team!" Joe put his hand on each boy's shoulder. Zudomon de-digivolved back into Gomamon and WarBeemon flew over to the group, Gomamon trotting on behind him.

"We're more than just a team! We're one big, happy Digi-family!" Gomamon excitedly shouted as he hugged Joe's leg.

"A…family?" Cody looked up at Joe who smiled at him.

"Family…?" Ken blinked and looked at the two boys as he also thought of the other kids who were out there somewhere. The ones who eagerly wanted to be his friends, no questions asked, "That sounds…nice."

"Yeah, I think that sounds about right Gomamon…we're family." Joe gave the two younger boys a pat on the back and turned to zip up his bag, "Well, we got to head back, we have a lot of ground to cover."

WarBeemon de-digivolved back into Stingmon, and put Ken on his back, "Stingmon, what are you doing?"

"Ken, you're not supposed to be walking on that leg, remember? Besides, you didn't get any sleep last night. It's time I carried you so you can get some rest."

"Thanks Stingmon…for everything." Ken finally gave into his exhaustion that he had completely forgotten about thanks to the battle, as his eyelids felt like metal to a magnet. He was asleep in nearly minutes. Joe smiled and noticed Cody was getting dozy himself as they walked.

"Alright Cody…looks like you need some shut-eye too." Joe knelt down.

"What? No, Joe…I'll be fine."

"Nonsense, you only got a few hours of sleep and then you walked all that way with me for the rest of the night."

"But you only got a few hours of sleep too. I'd just slow you down if you carried me."

"Cody, I'm older than you are, so I can handle it, you're just a kid. It's okay Cody, I can tell that took a lot out of you. You've earned a rest. I think that Grandpa of yours would agree with me." Joe offered.

"I suppose you're right, Grandpa probably _would_…okay. Thank you Joe." Cody climbed up on the older kid's back.

Joe stood up and began walking back the trail to the river. Armadillomon leading the way, because he remembered the smell of each tree on the way there exactly, at least, according to the mammal digimon. Joe, Gomamon and Stingmon followed close behind. Cody eyelids flickered before he finally allowed them to close.

"_Dad…I wish you could see this place. I bet you'd love it here, and the Digidestined…they're all really nice people. They're taking care of me Dad. I know I should be the responsible one, and be the man of the house for Mom and Grandpa after you're gone…but here…I can depend on others...just like when I depended on you. A family Dad…that sounds really nice, don't you think?_"

"Hey how about a knock-knock joke?" Gomamon asked.

"Shhhh—Gomamon, Cody and Ken are asleep." Joe shushed.

"Sorry…it sure felt good to become Zudomon again though." Gomamon whispered.

"It sure did, Gomamon." Joe's lips curved into a smile.

* * *

><p>Etemon pressed a button on the computer screen...he was channeling something through his dark network. The computer screen's image changed from its normal picture of Etemon rocking on his guitar…to a distorted and twisted black, and other dark colors.<p>

"Yes, what is it, Etemon?" A dark voice called.

"My Masters…I'm afraid I have some bad news. Apparently, my stupid soldiers neglected to tell me that they found twelve human children, that they claimed to have taken care of. I have reason to believe these kids are the Digidestined—eight of them being the original kids that came in and ruined everything the first time…two of my men's signals went completely dead this morning…which can only mean one thing. They were deleted."

"Yes…I figured as much was happening. One of our scouts recently discovered that Devimon has also been destroyed. I know of eight Digidestined…but twelve humans? This is definitely not expected. Something tells me the Sovereigns had these other four hidden away from our knowledge." Another dark voice spoke from the speakers.

"My men that I sent to go investigate this…were all Ultimate digimon." Etemon informed.

"This is disturbing news. Those four other Digidestined without a doubt have crests somewhere hidden away here-the Sovereigns have a nasty habit of planning ahead, but for the other eight to come as well…somehow the Sovereigns must have found a way to restore their power. Etemon, you must find and eliminate them. Those other children, they must not obtain these crests." A third voice spoke.

"Yeah…I understand. I'll keep everyone here's top priorities to finding those brats."

"Continue keeping an eye out for the Sovereigns' Digicores as well. And don't forget, you also must find the key to unlocking the Sacred Dragon. If we can drive that out…" Another voice said.

"Don't worry, me and those four numbskulls you brought back, between the five of us, I'm certain we'll find them, that old coot can't keep them hidden from us." He chuckled into his microphone, "By the way, how are the Sovereigns doing?"

"Oh Apocalymon is taking very good care of them." A fifth voice chuckled.

"Don't you worry about them, just worry about doing your job." The sixth voice spoke up.

"Of course, that is why you brought me back. Don't worry, Etemon knows how to get the job done. They can't hide from me." Etemon's grin couldn't have been any more smug.

"Good, that's what we like to hear Etemon…don't disappoint us." A seventh voice warned, the screen faded to pitch black as the computer turned off.

"Etemon doesn't disappoint his adoring crowd…he delivers."

* * *

><p><em><strong>-<span>To Be Continued-<span>**_

** Lol, did I ever mention how much I love Etemon? Anyways...**

**STINGMON DIGIVOLVED! Okay, so basically I changed his name (oh like the dub hasn't), Stingmon's ultimate is called, JewelBeemon-but…to be perfectly honest…I kinda…find that name lame. His ultimate form looks REALLY COOL-and Jewel in the name just sounds...silly. So I changed it to WarBeemon. Here is what he looks like- **

** .com(forward slash)wiki(forward slash)JewelBeemon (since they won't let me give out links D:)  
><strong>

**So obviously this chapter was a very important character moment for Ken, and it also gave a little bit of insight to Cody's character, and hints of future development for him.**

**Well we all know Ken has the Crest of Kindness…like Izzy, Joe and Mimi...his crest is just something that is a part of who he is. So he didn't need to learn kindness or it was already there and he just needed to better develop it. It was just something he needed to recognize and see about himself. Granted he doesn't quite know that's what his crest is, but it was mainly Ken decided to embrace who is is-and stop trying to be his brother. And who Ken is? A kind person. Just like how Joe is a responsible person, Izzy is an intellectual person, and Mimi is an honest person. So just by accepting who he is…that activated his crest.**

**I'm curious…okay folks, these are the known canon crests so far; Courage, Friendship, Reliability, Knowledge, Love, Sincerity, Hope, Light, and Kindness. Now…EVERYONE has to do this (except for the beta…because she knows what they are because I told her…and you Lisa and Sa-chan, because I told you both as well. You guys are not allowed XD) Okay, well I can't FORCE you to do it XD…but I'd hope a lot of people will at least try.**

**I want you to guess what types of crests-Cody, Yolei and Davis has. What their crest names are. I want to see how close people are. Plus it'd be fun to see what some come up with. If any of you guess right…I'll pm you and let you know. But remember, it has to be an attribute-like the ones for the other kids, I have listed above…**

**Thanks everyone again, for all your reviews. I look forward to hearing more from you! Your thoughts, comments and advice always put a smile on my face! I hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter. But no flames…all flamers will be forced to "play" with Puppetmon.**

**Thank you LithiumRukia again for beta'ing this chapter.**


	11. Don't Take It For Granted

**Chapter 11: Don't Take It For Granted   
><strong>

**_Re-edit Note: (May 16, 2013)_ ****_I still got 12-15 left to go to get my re-edits all done (almost finished!), so everything looks and matches my later chapters. It's funny how after you completely change your writing style and you go back and look at what you previous typed up and cringe. I mean okay it wasn't that bad…but it definitely had room for improvement. (Plus there were several details I needed to change or correct anyway.)_**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

The group of four kids bunked in Cutemon's basement that night, with Patamon and Gabumon. Hawkmon and Palmon stayed over by Cutemon's friends so they could finish patching the two up, and make certain that there were no difficulties.

Matt let out a yawn and stretched out his arms as far as they could reach, but he stopped for he felt something on him. An extra weight that hadn't been there before, he glanced down and his cheeks went pink. Two skinny and dainty arms were wrapped around Matt's waist, arms that hadn't been there the night before. Locks of light brown hair spilled from the head which nuzzled its face into Matt's side. The figure breathed softly yet deeply, for he felt the rhythmic breaths against his side.

"Mimi…you got about three seconds to get off me right now!" An aggravated Matt spoke up, not screaming, but just loud enough to be heard by the sleeping figure.

"Mmm—not now, T.K. J-just give me five more m-minutes." Mimi let out a yawn, and passed out right back on him again.

"T-T.K.?" Matt stuttered in confusion.

He blinked a couple of times before his face switched back to his annoyed expression again. A heavy frown on his face as he glared at the sleeping figure attached to him.

"_She thought I was T.K.? How the heck did she even confuse us? T.K. was sleeping on the other side of the room! And I don't care how dark it was last night! I do not look like an eleven year old!_" He mentally huffed.

"D-did you say something, Mimi? Just five m-more minutes, please…I'm exhausted." T.K.'s voice sleepily spoke up.

Matt was dumfounded…he looked down past Mimi and saw that there was another figure that had wrapped itself around her waist. It was none other than T.K.; he dozed back off and the right side of his face squished into Mimi's back as if she was a pillow.

"What in the—? T.K., how in the...?" Matt was now even more confused and annoyed. His face burned when Mimi scooted closer and she rested her head right against his chest. He shoved the girl and his brother off, "You two—GET OFF OF ME!"

Mimi and T.K. immediately were awake after being shoved to the ground and heard shouting. Gabumon, Patamon and Yolei also shot up, awakened by Matt's shouting.

"What's going on—we're not being attacked are we?" Yolei stood up frantically.

"No Yolei..." Mimi yawned and stretched her arms out, "Matt just throwing one of his fits."

"Ow…that was one heck of a wake—up call." T.K. rubbed his lower back.

"Throwing a fit? I'm not throwing a fit like some stupid child...what were you doing sleeping on me?" Matt scowled.

"T.K. asked if we could cuddle like we use to for old time sakes...it was really dark in the room. The only thing that really stood out was your blond hair in the dark; I thought you were him—sorry about that." Mimi shrugged.

"Yeah, that's when I saw Mimi; she was already asleep so I just snuggled up to her." T.K. laughed, but then shut up soon as he saw his older brother glare down at him.

"Okay, the blond hair I understand...but do I look like a little kid to you? T.K., you're too old to be cuddling and you—!" Matt jabbed his index finger in Mimi's direction, "Stop babying him!"

"The other night you said he was _both_ too young and too old to cuddle, which is it Matt?" Mimi got to her feet, crossed her arms and shot Matt a smirk.

"It's both—"

"Now that makes no sense Matt...it can't be both, it has to be one or the other." Mimi's eyes narrowed with her smirk.

"No, it's both!" Matt insisted, "He's too young to be cuddling up with a girl who's practically three years older than him. And he's too old to be treated like the same kid _you_ constantly coddled. Treat him like his age, and grow up yourself!"

Matt packed the blanket back in his bag—T.K. and Mimi doing the same, Yolei handed her blanket to Mimi to pack in her bag. Patamon and Gabumon glanced at each other and both shrugged.

* * *

><p>Yolei couldn't help but watch with slight amusement at the argument between Matt and Mimi.<p>

"Sure, whatever you say Matt." Mimi giggled, "Tell yourself whatever you want."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Matt grumbled in annoyance.

"You know Matt...it's too late now—trying to protect your pride. You're embarrassed and you just don't want to admit it. I already caught you blushing about six minutes ago, so there is no sense in trying to hide that too." Mimi popped in front of Matt and giggled at the annoyed, flustering teen.

"Quit fooling around, we have to get a move on...and I am not blushing." Matt huffed and threw his bag over his shoulder.

Matt blinked in confusion, found himself staring back at a reflection of his face, in a small handheld mirror Mimi instantly pulled out of her bag. The girl giggled and pointed to Matt's cheeks in his reflection on the mirror. His face frowned with annoyance, as his cheeks had grown even more red from embarrassment at the girl pointing this out to him.

Yolei bit back a chuckle. She didn't want Matt to get mad at her too.

"So...what do you call this?" Mimi's expression mimicked that of a cat.

"Grow up Mimi, let's just go get Palmon and Hawkmon and _go!_ Alright?" Matt huffed.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, turned away from the girl and headed for the stairs. Gabumon trotted close behind Matt and they were followed by T.K. and Patamon.

Well that was settled, Matt clearly didn't want to dwell on the subject...not that she blamed him. She then found herself staring at her new crest she just obtained the day before.

"Man…he really is such a tsundere." Mimi smiled and shook her head while rolling her eyes, silently laughed to herself, and then turned to the lavender-haired preteen.

"Well, let's go Yolei." Mimi called out to Yolei, bringing her back from her distracting thoughts

"Coming!" Yolei followed close behind the older girl but then went back to gazing at the crest around her neck.

"_I wonder what my crest could be. Maybe it's Honesty! I am an honest person! No...wait, Mimi told me her's was called Sincerity. Hmmm...let's see, Sora is Love. Tai is Courage, Joe is Reliability, Matt is Friendship, T.K. is Hope, Izzy is Knowledge, and Kari is Light. Something that's a trait I have, something that makes me...me...hmmm, I never realized how hard this is to figure out._" Yolei crossed her arms and tapped her elbows with her fingers as she pondered this.

* * *

><p>"You understand your orders?" A dark voice bellowed.<p>

"Of course…I just need to invade the hearts of these new children and prevent them from activating their crests. It should be simple enough. I already invaded the dreams of the other eight before, and destroyed their crests from within…preventing these new crests from activating shouldn't be all too difficult." The shadow creature bowed.

"Good, do not fail us. You have a debt to repay us after all."

* * *

><p>They all waved goodbye to Cutemon and her friends, Hawkmon and Palmon all patched up. Palmon was feeling a bit better for she insisted on walking on her own. Hawkmon had not recovered nearly as quickly as Palmon had, not as accustomed to combat as the other Digimon had been. Yolei insisted on carrying Hawkmon, who really had no choice but to comply in order to make his partner feel a little bit better. Plus, she was right: it wouldn't have been wise for Hawkmon to have walked too much anyway.<p>

Yolei didn't pay much attention to the group or the forest around them...she was too absorbed into her own thoughts.

"_Man, I wish Cody or my mom was around, I bet they could help me get an idea of what my crest is._" Yolei thought, "_I already know what Chi, Momo and Taro would say, though. They'd all probably make fun of me. Saying it's either the Crest of Geekiness...or the Crest of Annoying…or the Crest of Bratty! Well I'll show you all! You'll see!_"

"Yolei, is something wrong?" T.K. asked.

"Oh I was just wondering what my crest stood for. I keep trying to think of what it could possibly be. There are a couple of people like my parents or Cody that I bet could probably help me figure out what my attribute could possibly be." She started before her expression morphed into an annoyed one, "I then remembered my older siblings...but they wouldn't help me out. They'd use this opportunity to make fun of me, like they always do!"

Yolei cracked her knuckles, as Hawkmon gulped—he was certainly glad that he was not one of Yolei's siblings. T.K. frowned and sighed. Scratched his head, him and Patamon shrugged...not really sure how to approach this.

"Well, I'm sure they mean well." T.K. said tentatively.

"That's just how it's always been with them, T.K. They always pick on me, nag at me, boss me around, make fun of me and call me names! They never have a nice thing to say at all!"

* * *

><p>Mimi noticed Matt was getting more and more irritated with Yolei complaining about her older siblings for the past twenty minutes. (No really, she complained about them non-stop). T.K. had tried asking her surely if there was anything nice about her siblings and such not...but Yolei insisted they lived to just pick on her and make fun of her.<p>

Things definitely wouldn't turn out well if she continued. Yolei started blabbing a story to T.K. about how she had wanted to hang out with her older siblings and their friends one day, and when she tried sitting down and talking with them, the siblings just kicked Yolei out. She spoke further of how annoying and rude they were—how they just didn't seem to understand Yolei and other stuff...until Matt couldn't take it anymore.

"Did you ever stop and consider what your older siblings felt? Did you ever think they might have a reason for nagging at you? Did you even stop to wonder why they could possibly say rude things about you...when you yourself are disrespecting them, insulting them, complaining about them—behind their backs! How can you expect others to respect you if you can't respect them?!" Matt snapped.

"Matt..." Mimi looked back and forth at the younger girl and Matt.

"Excuse me?!" Yolei glared at the older blond, "Oh I suppose you have any idea what I'm talking about?! You're an older sibling yourself...however you and T.K. get along just fine! You clearly care about each other, so how can you lecture me like you even have an inkling understanding what I've gone through!"

"Yolei—!" Mimi's eyes widened with shock.

Yolei was seriously not going there was she?

"How badly do you really miss that family of yours if you've been complaining about them for the past twenty minutes!?" Matt scowled.

"Matt…" T.K. really didn't like where this was going.

"Excuse you?! Of course I miss them! But do you have any idea what it's like to be the youngest of a huge family—all crowded under one small tiny roof?! No of course you don't! It's just you and T.K., you two perfect brothers that get along just so well! I get no space, nothing of my own. When they say something is _theirs _they have the right to claim so...but if I ever try to claim anything as mine, it's considered selfish! All I ever wanted in life was to spend time with them, to talk to them, and get to know them...but they never give me the chance! They always blow me off! Do you have any idea what that feels like? I'm pretty sure you don't!" Yolei shouted back.

"At least you all get to live together under one tiny roof as a family!" Matt shouted, "At least you get to see them on a daily basis! I can't believe how ungrateful—!"

"Matt!" Mimi finally shouted.

She seriously needed to intervene, this was worse than when Yolei and Davis were arguing. Matt and Yolei both quit with their argument, as the two glanced at her.

Mimi gave Matt a sad smile, "Hey, there is no need to fight, just keep leading the way, alright. We all just need to cool off. I'll take care of this."

Matt exhaled a huge breath of air, he glanced back at Mimi, his tense posture managed to relax a little bit. He was still in a bad mood though, she could see it just in his face.

"Fine, but you tell that girl to learn some respect and be grateful..." Matt walked on ahead, Gabumon, Patamon and T.K. followed.

Mimi turned back to Yolei, the girl looked slightly confused but mostly livid. She let out a sigh, Palmon and Hawkmon nervously glanced at each other—Mimi noticed out of the corner of her eye. She then approached the girl.

* * *

><p>"Well what bit him in the butt?" Yolei huffed.<p>

"He's just grumpy because he woke up with two unwanted guests." Mimi laughed but then sadly smiled, "Yolei, he is right though..."

"Huh?"

Yolei couldn't believe it...she was taking _his _side?

"Yolei, you know...you're lucky. I'm an only child, I've always wanted to have siblings, my mom was pregnant the same year I first came to the Digital World you know. She wasn't that far along...but the stress with everything that happened when Myotismon appeared...she miscarried." Mimi frowned.

"Oh…I'm sorry Mimi. I—"

"That's alright. You know I went around the whole time saying I had a baby brother...boy do I feel silly. I feel even worse for my mom. She told everyone, before that all happened, it really upset her." Mimi's cheerful demeanor then gradually changed into that of forlorn.

"Look, Yolei...Matt shouldn't have blown up like that...but he's right. After all, family is something you should be grateful to have, and you'll never know when you'll see them again. So cherish them while you have them...because some people don't even have memories of a family to fall back on." Mimi sighed.

"I can understand why you'd be frustrated, but you can't always look at the world through just your own eyes...you have to try to see it through other people too. What if you never returned home...what if something happened, do you really want the last feelings of your siblings to be that of anger or resentment? What about the reverse? If something happened to you, would you enjoy feeling like your siblings had unkind thoughts about you? Family is the most important thing in the world Yolei." Mimi and Palmon went ahead after Matt and T.K.

"Hmmm...well, I'm a jerk." Yolei frowned and felt guilty about all that complaining, she glanced back at Hawkmon before the two ran up ahead to join the others, "Wait up guys! Ummm...T.K., Mimi, Matt...I'm sorry about all that complaining. It was very immature of me. I guess...well I want so badly to be close to my older brother and sisters like we used to be...but we just don't talk anymore. I sort of let my hurt feelings take control. I didn't mean it. I mean they can be annoying sometimes...but I don't hate them—I really do miss them."

* * *

><p>Mimi nudged Matt and gave him a look that said, <em>"She's apologizing…you should do the same." <em>Matt scratched his head and shoved both his hands back into his pockets again.

"I'm glad you understand...so I'm sorry for losing my temper." Matt sighed.

Mimi smiled, nudged him again and winked. He just rolled his eyes.

Hours had passed; morning became afternoon and afternoon became evening. They all decided to stop and camp for the night, Matt started on making the campfire. Gabumon and Patamon went out to get fruit. T.K. brought the extra firewood and Yolei laid out everyone's blankets. Mimi passed around some of her mother's homemade snacks so they could eat when Gabumon and Patamon returned.

"So your mother made these Mimi?" Hawkmon asked, taking a bite of the handful of homemade cookies in his hand.

"Yep all the snacks she made me are homemade." Mimi took a bite into her rice-ball.

"Wow, your mom is something! This is the best!" Yolei cheered.

"Yolei, why don't you tell me more about your family. Positive details this time." Mimi chuckled, Yolei scratched her cheek nervously laughing.

"Well, we live in the same complex as T.K. does now...my family owns the Ai-Mart convenience store—it's attached to the apartment complex, my mom usually gets me and my sisters to help out with it, oh and my dad is the one who founded it, he and my mom are co-managers. I have three older siblings, two sisters and one brother. Chizuru is about the same age as you Mimi. Momoe, she's about sixteen years old. And my brother, Mantarou, he's going to graduate high school this year." Yolei explained.

"Wow that sounds pretty neat. Your own convenience store, how cool. And you and your sisters get to help out? Do you get to eat all the food you want?" Patamon asked.

Mimi, Yolei and T.K. couldn't help but chuckle at Patamon's main interest in the concept of possibly free food. Palmon, Gabumon and Hawkmon intently waited to hear Yolei's answer. That made Mimi silently chuckle more. Leave it to the Digimon to hear about Yolei's family and they take out of it—maybe free food privileges? It was cute to say at the least.

"Well we do get a family discount, the food isn't free...but yeah that's right about right on the other accounts. My brother sometimes helps out too, but he's busy usually with his studies. He wants to become an engineer. Um, I think he said the field of study was either Electrical Engineering or Chemical Engineering. I can't remember which one though, because he expressed an interest in both. You know, now that I think about it...there is one thing about Taro I just remembered...he would never tease me or makes fun of me about. And that's school, he use to always help me with my homework when I was little, and was always telling me that I'm really smart for my age." Yolei smiled at the memory.

Mimi couldn't help but smile at that, it was nice to see that Yolei does have fond memories of her siblings, and is recognizing that fact.

"Aw, that's so sweet. What about your sisters?" Mimi asked while T.K. and Matt quietly ate the sandwiches Mimi's mother made.

"Let's see, well Chi, she wants to be a nurse someday, it's been her dream sense she was small. She use to be afraid of needles, so she never was very cooperative when it came to getting shots, as a child. It frustrated my parents so much, but then there was this really nice nurse one day, who was really good with Chi, and got her to actually cooperate. She was Chi's favorite nurse, and thanks to that nurse, she stopped being afraid of needles. So I guess, ever sense then she decided she wanted to become one." Yolei mused.

"Oh and Momo...she is pretty smart to. She loves to read and write. She was thinking of becoming a part-time writer, publish her own books, but she's expressed an interest in taking over the family business too. Whenever it was one of those long days, and we're helping clean up the shop— she would go on and on, telling me about her story ideas—they all sound really neat! But she also says she loves to cook and stuff, another part of her really loves that—and wants to open her own restaurant someday. We used to bake stuff all the time in the kitchen and make such a huge mess. She hasn't quite decided on which one she'd rather do more...she's equally passionate about both." Yolei grinned.

"That all sounds really nice. Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun in that house." Mimi laughed.

"Well it's small and cramped...but yeah, we do have a lot of adventures...in a way. I wonder how they're all doing." She breathed before she lightly bopped herself on her head, "Oh...listen to me blabbing, Mimi why don't you tell me about your family."

Mimi couldn't help but chuckle some more at that. She nodded and took another bite of her food in front of her, set it down in her lap as she cleared her throat after swallowing.

"Well as you can tell by the snacks, my mom loves to cook, she creates all sorts of her own original recipes. She was originally; you know one of those stay-at-home kind of mom's...which I of course loved because every time I came home, there was mom waiting for me!" Mimi said brightly.

Mimi hadn't realized as she said that, Matt's face expression turned into one of a jealousy and sadness, while T.K.'s face eyed his brother with pity, but also a hint of sadness and jealousy was in his face as well.

"Oh, but recently two of my mom's friends, one opened up her own bakery, another—her own tiny, little restaurant. So my mom will create these fun recipes and sells them to these ladies. Heck she has even recently been offered to work at the restaurant her friend opened up. She hasn't decided anything yet, but my dad thinks she should go for it. Oh right—my daddy. He actually works for some big office building, don't ask me what the name of the company is though, somebody recently bought it, so now it's got a new name, that I don't even remember, I don't even remember it is what they do...but all I know is that it has something to do with business. Oh...on the plus side my dad got a promotion after that buy-out, actually! My mom was so happy the two of them celebrated for weeks. They're so funny sometimes; they act like they're still newlyweds on a honeymoon." Mimi laughed.

"Wow, that doesn't sound too different from my mom and dad. Granted they don't act like newlyweds, but there are those days...when something good happens, the two of them are dancing around our store like you see in romance movies…it's the funniest and corniest thing, and in the weirdest way— adorable." Yolei laughed, Mimi joined in the laughter with her.

Matt sat up, and just shoved his food into Gabumon's hands, walked off into the trees...Gabumon naturally followed. T.K. and Patamon left with him. Mimi blinked in confusion, Yolei did the same.

"Where are you guys going?" Hawkmon asked.

"Out for a stroll…" Matt said in an indifferent tone.

Mimi's face crinkled with worry, and then it hit her and she gasped. Guilt ceased her heart, and she now felt terrible. She felt so insensitive gushing like that in front of those two, Matt had never shown much anger or complaints before when in the past, their group discussed their home life and families...but Mimi realized that was probably because they probably didn't touch a sore spot. Her and Yolei touched that sore spot.

Mimi went over in her brain everything she and Yolei said that could of bothered the two, and it hit her, specially Matt, and then it hit her. She frowned even more, her and Yolei did indeed unintentionally poke at a wound that was still healing. Yolei looked at the older girl as her eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Is something wrong Mimi?" Palmon asked.

"I'm such an idiot. I'll have to apologize to the both of them when they get back." Mimi combed through the strands of some of her hair and sighed.

"Huh? I don't get it, how come?" Yolei rested her index finger on the tip of her chin.

"Yolei…don't you know?" Mimi blinked.

Did she know? Was she aware about Matt and T.K.'s family being split apart? Had T.K. ever mentioned it to her at all? That didn't matter, Yolei may as well understand, if they are to prevent arguments like earlier that day in the future, Mimi didn't bring it up then because she wondered it was her place too...plus she didn't want to bring that up when Matt and T.K. were still technically around. (Sure they were ahead of them at the time, and there was some distance, but that didn't mean they still wouldn't of been able to hear what Mimi said.) But whether it's her place or not, Yolei should know if they are to be better in the future.

* * *

><p>"Matt and T.K.'s parents are divorced. Matt lives with their dad, and T.K. lives with their mom. Granted they do sometimes both stay at one of the parents places now...but a few years ago...Matt lived with just his dad and T.K. lived with just his mom. It was that way for quite a few years. Matt resented that so much, and although T.K. never showed it, you can tell it affected him too." Mimi's tone was very melancholic, Yolei noticed.<p>

"Oh, that's right. T.K. did tell me about that once offhand, when we first met—I didn't even think..." Yolei sighed, not really hungry anymore, "_Man, I'm just screwing up right and left tonight._"

Yolei let her head fall to the ground, resting against the soft blanket the Koromon given to her and pulled off her glasses. She felt like hitting herself or screaming. T.K. was a good friend of hers, and twice she made herself look insensitive right in front of him. Not too mention she probably didn't give Matt a very good impression—between her blubbering from the day before, and now this. Her crest almost reflected off the moonlight, Yolei found herself gazing back at it again.

She felt guilty for letting her thoughts dwell back on her crest, when everything else that happened, but she couldn't help it.

"Mimi...in order for this crest to be activated...we'll have to go into another battle again, won't we?" Yolei glanced over at Hawkmon who was finishing his meal.

Yolei's eyes fixated on the bandages around the bird, a sigh of air escaped through her nose, a heavy frown on her face. Even after that pep talk from Mimi...she was still very uncertain about all the fighting. She just couldn't wipe the fear that coiled around her heart when she saw everything happen to Hawkmon, the thought of...losing her Digimon.

"Yes...I'm afraid so." Mimi answered sadly.

Things remained quiet for a bit, nothing but the sound of two Digimon chewing their food, the crackling of the fire, and the wind blowing through the trees.

The silence finally broke when Mimi told Yolei she would wait up on the others, so it was alright for her to go to sleep. Hawkmon finished his meal and sat his feathers right next to his human partner. She wished Mimi and Palmon good night and curled up with Hawkmon as she took in the scent of the trees and burning firewood. That was when her mind drifted off.

* * *

><p>Matt, T.K., Gabumon and Patamon showed up right as Yolei and Hawkmon went to sleep. Palmon joined them in the land of slumber as she snuggled next to Mimi, using the girl's lap as a pillow. Matt plopped down on his blanket, T.K. doing the same. Patamon snuggled in T.K.'s lap, as Gabumon sat down next to Matt.<p>

"Matt...T.K. I just wanted to say that, well, I'm sorry." Mimi frowned.

The two boys looked up, a little bit startled for this sudden apology, they seemed a bit confused at first, so Mimi figured she'd need to clarify.

"I sort of forgot all about...well you know." She shifted her weight gingerly, careful not to wake Palmon, and turned back to the brothers, "Yolei seemed so stressed lately. I thought that maybe, it would take her mind off of things...and maybe realize the things she could have taken for granted...though I do have to admit, I partially did it for selfish reasons too…I kinda wanted to get my mind off of things as well. So I'm sorry for not thinking about you two."

Matt and T.K. peered at one another before they turned back to look directly at Mimi.

"You don't have to apologize, Mimi." T.K. said.

"Look, thanks Mimi...But it's cool. Sorry if we worried you heading off like that...but I felt clearing my head would be a good thing. You and Yolei should be free to chat about your families if it makes you guys feel better. " Matt admitted.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you." Mimi smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. Look...seriously though. It's fine Mimi, it's not like you guys were doing that on purpose." Matt laid his head back and rested it on his hands.

"Like Matt said, all we needed was an evening stroll to clear our heads." T.K. nodded, "We're not mad at you Mimi."

Patamon moved as T.K. leaned to lay down, then climbed onto T.K.'s stomach, Gabumon shifted as he laid next to Matt. Mimi let a breath of relief whoosh out of her lips, a smaller smile tugged at them.

"Well that's good, though Yolei might burst into apology tomorrow morning...I should warn you." Mimi giggled.

"Geez, what do you guys think we're made of, eggshells?" Matt questioned jokingly.

"Oh don't blame her for just wanting to make certain your feelings aren't hurt." Mimi teasingly cooed.

"So we can blame you instead?" T.K. joked.

"Ohhh...now you gone and hurt my feelings T.K.!" Mimi exclaimed in a mock-dramatic fashion.

"Great, now we got to apologize for that T.K." Matt laughed.

Mimi felt a smirk crawl onto her lips. She just couldn't resist, she had to just say it.

"I know one way you can make it up to me and make me feel all better...cuddling!" Mimi playfully added, knowing exactly the response she's going to get from it.

"No. No cuddling...period."

Mimi lightly chuckled, that Matt can be so predictable sometimes. She laid her head down onto the blanket, shifting slightly to pull Palmon closer to her, but careful to not wake her.

"Well good night boys." Mimi giggled.

* * *

><p>Yolei knew she had to of been dreaming.<p>

She was back home into that small apartment that somehow could squeeze in a family of six. Naturally, she was ecstatic, ran to look for her family members. But to her surprise...this dream wasn't a happy one.

Her siblings showed up and were all yelling at her...accusing her of being selfish, insensitive, and uncaring. Yolei tried asking her siblings what she did wrong, but one by one they all vanished, their anger and disappointed expressions burned into her mind. Then her parents came into view, she ran up to hug them, but they pushed her away. They shook their heads disapprovingly, and refused to look at her.

She begged to know what she did wrong, and why they wouldn't look at her, but they said nothing. They turned away, still refusing to look at her, before they too vanished.

It was then she noticed that her home turned into the Digital World...or at least Yolei thought it was the Digital World. It was all distorted and lifeless. The land around her not only was now distorted, but it began to lose it's color. Like she was now stuck in some old, creepy black and white horror movie.

She heard a bone-chilling laugh that made even the tiniest cells in her body shiver, as it echoed throughout the landscape. It was now cold, she could even feel the bitter air as she breathed. A feeling of dread wormed it's way inside her, not sure what to expect. To say she felt intimidated would of been an understatement.

"Who—who's there? Mimi? T.K.? Matt? Hawkmon...?" Yolei instinctively hugged herself tightly, as the little hairs on her arm and neck stood up.

She could feel goosebumps form all up her arms, as her ankles lightly quaked. A shiver crawled down her spine as she heard that cold, dark laughter again.

A strange looking creature that looked literally like, an evil, devil-like shadow, appeared out of the ground in front of Yolei and naturally she shrieked and backed away in fear. It continued to laugh at the frightened girl, she felt like she had goosebumps all over her body now.

"W-what are you? Wh-who are you?" She finally dared to speak at the...thing.

"My name is of no importance to you, child." The creature spoke.

Yolei's eyes grew to the size of baseballs when she heard it speak; its voice just gave her the creeps, like a spider crawling up her back almost.

"W-what do you want?" Yolei felt her knees shaking.

"Nothing more than to show you something, and teach you." The shadow bowed, "So did you like part one of my lesson?"

"Lesson? What are you talking about?" Yolei rubbed her arms in hopes to decrease the amount of goosebumps.

"You know, you're siblings do have a point...you don't seem to be a very understanding person. Your brother is a hard worker, always tired from work and school, trying his hardest to do his best, and he comes home to three noisy little sisters, _one_ of whom, is the most noisy and nosiest, in particular. You say you just wanted to hang out with your older siblings and their friends...but I wonder, did you ever do or say anything once in their lives—in front of their peers to humiliate them? Or all the times you accuse them of being selfish...when you yourself are selfish." The shadow began, replaying events of Yolei's life, and past fights with her siblings for her to rewatch.

"I know, I get it I sort of already had this little chit chat today." Yolei rolled her eyes, was this nightmare shadow thing going to lecture her as well?

"And today you certainly made a fool of yourself with your thoughtlessness in front of a friend, his brother and the girl you admire. Pity..." It mocked.

"Yeah I know, I get it!" Yolei became less scared of this thing and more annoyed now.

"Yes you truly are an insensitive little thing, how could the crest ever glow for unsympathetic child such as yourself?" It darkly chuckled.

Yolei was starting to get mad. Who was this thing to judge her? Yeah she made plenty of mistakes recently, but she's more than aware of that, why was this thing rubbing salt into her wounds of guilt? And who was it to say she was unsympathetic or that her crest will never glow?

"So tell me...what your thoughts on this are...?" The shadow creature replayed for Yolei, the moment when Hawkmon got brutally hurt, Yolei's heart sunk. This was the last thing she ever wanted to watch again, "Oh keep watching child."

She looked up and saw the moment Mimi comforted and gave her that pep-talk, in the cave after the cave-in. Now she was confused, why was the shadow showing this moment?

"So tell me, do you fully agree with everything being spoon fed to you here?" It asked, that sneering grin never wiped of the shadow-thing's face.

"Wait, that's why you are showing me this?" Yolei raised one eyebrow.

"So you agree with every word of this. That this girl right here should sacrifice herself, her friends, all for the sake of this Digital World?" It grinned maliciously.

"What? She never said...I..." Yolei hesitated, her brain fully registered what he was asking her now.

"Do you think you should sacrifice your life? The lives of your friends...the life of your Digimon? All for this world? A world that isn't your own and have nothing to do with, a war that you were called too, without any consideration of the lives you children had? Do you think that those costs are worth it? Do you little girl?" The shadow persisted, clearly enjoyed Yolei's inner-turmoil.

But he was hitting every little mark. All the little insecurities and negative feelings she had been keeping bottled up have been constantly shoved in her face. It felt like someone was constantly poking her heart with a tiny needle non-stop, toying with her, before they finally decided to put her out of her misery.

"I...I don't know." Was all she could muster out of her lips.

"You don't understand how they can do this do you? How these other kids are willingly able to let their own lives and most importantly, the lives of the ones they care about...be jeopardized...all for the sake of the world they have no part of. They're heroes aren't they, every last one of them, all giving up their lives and possible futures just to give this Digital World they don't belong to, peace. But you can't find yourself fully committed to such a cause...because to just watch their partners get hurt and nearly die countless times, you yourself wonder, how can they live with this? How can they be okay with this?" The shadow grinned as Yolei collapsed to her knees.

"I..."

Tears welled up in her eyes, Yolei's whole body was shaking now. It was almost as if this thing could see her every thought and feeling, she felt so exposed, so vunerable...but she also felt so pathetic, hearing out loud what she buried deep down inside made her realize just how true it was. The tears spilled from their place in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks, feeling so pitiful.

"_I can't believe...I can't believe...I can't believe a word some freak says...and yet__—he's actually right. He's actually right! I don't want to risk Hawkmon's life for the sake of the good fight, he's...but I promised myself I wouldn't be a burden to Hawkmon or the others! What do I do!? I'm so confused...I don't want Hawkmon to fight anymore...but, we'll never get anywhere if...but I...I don't understand. I just don't understand!_"

"And what about them...they tell you that they have to fight the good fight, one of them even tells you they know what you're going through…but do they really? How could they honestly be okay with this if they knew exactly what you are going through? That's what you're thinking, such uncharitable thoughts to have to a girl who wants to help you and comfort you. The truth of the matter is, you don't understand your friends very well, and you selfishly believe that they don't understand you. But you keep pretending, dancing along with your lies. It's truly pathetic that such an unsympathetic and insensitive girl dares to actually call herself, _human_..." He chuckled coldly.

The dream world faded, the shadow, everything...gone. Yolei shot her eyes open, finding them drenched with tears...she was crying in her sleep. She looked over at Hawkmon and choked back her tears; she didn't want to be a disappointment. She didn't want to be a burden. She didn't want to be weak...but...

"_How can I be a strong person, if I have to sacrifice the things that mean most to me, the things that make me feel like I can be strong. I don't want to lose them...I don't want to lose Hawkmon! I don't understand! I just don't understand! How could doing this be a good or okay thing? That shadow freak was right...I am selfish and insensitive...they all know doubt have noble reasons that I can't bring myself to comprehend...and I was thinking such unsympathetic thoughts about them...I...I can't understand this at all...what's wrong with me? Why would they choose me to be a Digidestined then? How can I really be worthy of such a thing...?!_" She choked back on her sobs, she didn't want to wake anyone.

So she just bit her lip, and tried her best to take a couple of deep breaths, but that didn't stop the tears from flowing like a river down her cheeks. She continued to do so, feeling herself hiccup, and her head was beginning to ache. She clutched herself tightly, as she kept her tear-covered gaze firmly on Hawkmon.

* * *

><p>A dark shadow lingered in the sky of the dark world of his nightmare creations, flying to where it senses the hearts of the children...it silently chuckles to himself. He could sense he was already too late with that one boy...Ken Ichijouji.<p>

His crest already activated, but no matter, there were other ways of snuffing out his light...he had to focus on the other three. He knew it would be easy to twist the girl's feelings against her once he entered her heart, but he never suspected it would be that easy.

All that was left was to know make certain those other two boys...that their crests didn't glow either. But finding and seeking them out through their hearts was difficult. Even in that darkness realm of dreams. They had to find their crests first, to make it easier to sense them...sensing them through the faint light of the crests.

He'd find a way to deal with the other eight Digidestined in time...though he knew next time around dealing with that eighth Digidestined will probably be even more tricky. Unfortunately the powers his masters, The Dark Ones, gave him to destroy the crests from within their hearts and connection to their digimon through their digivices was a once in a blue moon, sort of power. It took a lot of energy for his masters to gather up that kind of power with the ability to do that, and it would take them even longer if they were to try it again. (But he suspected the Sovereigns could of accounted for that, and probably came up with a stop gape measure to prevent that in the future.)

No he'd have to find an entirely other way to deal with those eight in the future (unless the others didn't end up killing those kids first). But there will time will come, all of them, including that girl with the heart of light, even she won't be able to escape from the darkness forever.

No, he must focus on that adolescent brat and the youngest boy...those two were what was left on his current agenda, for now. He had to make sure to prevent their crests from ever glowing when they finally received them.

He couldn't wait til when he entered both of their hearts. It was easy to figure out all the heart's insecurities and the darkness they lock up inside, once he's in them. The humans can't hide them once he's there. Using their own weaknesses and insecurities against them would be all too easy...

"The Digidestined of Empathy...the Digidestined of Humility...and the Digidestined of Diligence...they have not yet activated their crests, and it shall stay that way. And one by one, we shall teach them the true meaning of nightmares, and they will regret coming back here...I'm going to enjoy watching each and every one of you all die...the oh so special chosen children, the Digidestined...soon the Sovereigns will regret ever creating you, and I will have my revenge!" The shadow cackled.

He let the dark fog engulf himself as he relaxed to meditate. Yes, he had a debt to pay, and he will see through it. But he needed to regain his strength in the darkness. He can't borrow his master's power for everything. He needs to be ready to fill the next heart with doubt and despair, he smirked as his entire body was now swallowed in the dark fog as he meditated and soaked up all it's delicious energy.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Okay, so yeah, Yolei's character developing moment is going to take two chapters. And for those who think Ken is done developing…no…the newer digi-kids are going to get a lot of character defining and developing moments…some just need more establishment and will take a bit of time for it to come out perfectly…(at least I hope perfectly). Technically it could have taken a chapter and a half…but there was NO WAY I was going to cut that hilarious idea at the beginning of the chapter! (Matt, stop being so much fun to pick on! You make it way too tempting and easy) …no seriously…I almost want to write a story with nothing but Mimi tormenting the guy? Why…he makes it way too much fun! He is just a fun character to tease.**

**So yeah. For those who guessed Compassion for Yolei, that is pretty dang close, hers is Empathy. And trust me, this will fit her like a glove (and imo-it does…but she's still got a bit of growing into it, to do). For those who guessed Determination or Valor (lol or Perseverance-like LittleMissGamer)…again…you were very close. Davis is Diligence, Davis is a determined, persevering guy filled with valor-but all things considered, what do all those things either ARE or MAKE UP? Diligence, very very fitting for Davis. He's the guy who will jump into the fight first, and the last to give up or run away. (Not that he ever will give up or run away…you'd probably have to drag him away.) So naturally, those who guessed either Patience or Forgiveness for Cody…arguably-that's pretty close too. Cody is Humility. Cody is a very humble kid. Kinda like how Ken just embodies kindness, Cody just embodies humility. (And Davis embodies determinator****—diligence!...anyways). I can't wait for the future moments where you see, what I mean. Because for what I have in store…these Crests…it just couldn't be anything else for the three.**

**And just so no one asks me this ahead of time…the shadow guy does NOT know where the kids are hiding. Otherwise he would of told the Dark Ones and our heroes would be dead and the story…would end already and on a very depressing note :( No…you see it's a little sketchy for now, but I'll reveal things later. But he's basically a creature that can only exist right now in the dimension the Dark Ones placed him in, and he, a dimension where nightmares exist, that he can roam freely in. Basically he can enter into the dreams of others, and start to control those dreams through his powers, so through that world he senses the minds and hearts of people (the crests make it easier for him to differentiate between who those hearts and minds belong too), just not where their bodies be hanging out. So yeah.**

**Also yeah, while I love the English dub with all my heart and soul and will defend it to death...I'm not sure why the dubbers threw in that throw-away line about Mimi saying she had a baby brother (when she's an only child...eh maybe they didn't look far ahead and realize that the series would have the kids go back to the real world and see their families again). I don't know maybe one of the writers slipped it in, I mean we can only guess, like thinking it'd be a funny and relateable line for the kids who'd watch the show, but again none of us really know for sure...however regardless of the reason, it then it becomes awkward when Mimi later on is revealed to be an only child.**

**I say awkward because, as a child, I wondered where the heck Mimi's baby brother went to when they got to the real world, and then I thought as a child (to my horror) that Mimi's baby brother probably died while she was in the Digital World, and the whole family didn't talk about it because they were too upset by that. So I just invented this whole "miscarriage" headcanon that Mimi talks about above in the fic to kinda have it explain a bit that dub goof. (but also because something similar happened in my family. My mom got pregnant after my older sister, before I was born, and she told everyone she got pregnant again, and my older brother insisted that it was his new baby brother, and would go on and on about a baby brother that he had (that he never met) but unfortunately my mom miscarried, she was pretty upset about that, and embarrassed, because then people would as about her pregnancy and she really didn't enjoy talking about how she miscarried (who would?), and my brother was devastated because you know...his new sibling was no more. However, on a lighter happier note...that's okay now! Because my mom was blessed with 3 other children (me being one of them) after her first two kids, so my older brother and sister got still some new siblings after! SO HAPPY ENDING GUYS! HAPPY ENDING! NO BE SAD OKAY?!)**

**Flames are not allowed…all flamers will be sent to go live in the awfully dubbed and dumb world of Digimon Data Squad. WHUAHAHAHAHA!**

**Special thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia, for helping me with this chapter.**


	12. Empathy Shines Brightly

**Chapter 12: Empathy Shines Brightly****  
><strong>

**_Re-edit Note: (May 16, 2013)_ ****_I still got 13-15 left to go to get my re-edits all done (almost finished!), so everything looks and matches my later chapters. It's funny how after you completely change your writing style and you go back and look at what you previous typed up and cringe. I mean okay it wasn't that bad…but it definitely had room for improvement. (Plus there were several details I needed to change or correct anyway.)_**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

T.K. was beginning to worry.

Yolei did indeed apologize like Mimi predicted she would but she hadn't been acting like herself all morning. She seemed rather gloomy. Usually she woke up in a bright mood—well not _all_ the time—but she certainly never woke up depressed. They packed up their things and were ready to hit the road.

Suddenly a yellow fox Digimon appeared in the trees above them. It was standing upright, on two legs, and was about the same size as an average young, human adult. They all tensed, ready to be on their guard and fight…except for Yolei, who just held onto Hawkmon protectively as she glared up at the fox.

"You can relax...I mean you no harm." The fox's voice was feminine but serious. She hopped down from the tree and spoke, "I am called Renamon."

"She's a Rookie level Digimon, they're known for being pretty tough one and skilled fighters." Patamon whispered to T.K.

She inspected the four adolescents and their Digimon companions, sniffing each of them. They backed away from Renamon defensively. Matt was glaring daggers, ready to fight.

"Relax, like I said, I will not harm you. You are the Digidestined...are you not?" She asked with uncertainty.

T.K. realized that this was probably the first time this Digimon...Renamon, had ever seen humans before. However the four didn't answer, either out of distrust or hesitation, while all four of their Digimon eyed her warily.

"You can trust me. We have a common foe...Etemon. I escaped from one of his prisons with two other comrades...but we were forced to separate, what with Etemon's people out there still looking for us. I stopped by Rookie Village last night to rest. A friend of mine called Cutemon told me about you four and that I could catch up with you. I too am trying to find my way back to Haven Village...that is your destination, is it not? That is what Cutemon told me." Renamon explained.

Mimi then stepped forward of their little encircled group, Palmon practically glued herself to Mimi's side, prepared to protect Mimi if Renamon should attack. T.K. observed that Mimi's expression no longer held that of suspicion or hesitance.

"Yes—we're the Digidestined. And we are heading to Haven Village to meet up with the rest of the others; we also were forced to separate thanks to Etemon's goons." Mimi answered.

"Mimi—!" His older brother hissed, probably wasn't sure whether he was more nervous or annoyed about her revealing all of that information to a strange Digimon.

"Relax Matt—I think we can trust her. Don't you remember those annoying balls with legs and arms that were chasing after us? They did say that they were looking for fugitives before they were chasing after us. She's clearly one of them...so she's clearly not one of our enemies. Besides, she says she's a friend of that nice Cutemon who took us in. Cutemon wouldn't have told her about us if Renamon here wasn't someone trustworthy." Mimi explained casually.

T.K. had to admit. Mimi had a point there. Cutemon and the other Digimon in the Rookie Village promised to keep it a secret that they were there, for their protection, unless of course one of the other Digidestined showed up, or any of their other allies in the Digital World came across that little village. The fact that Cutemon did tell Renamon all about them suggests that she was someone they could trust.

"I thank you for your trust, though I can't say I blame this young man for not trusting me. Not with the state the Digital World is in. So many Digimon have bowed to the whims of the Dark Ones, out of either fear or self-interest. It's hard to know who you can trust these days." Renamon said bitterly.

"Why did Etemon capture you?" Gabumon asked.

"You see, my friends and I...we know how to digivolve. Any Digimon that have become capable of doing that, that isn't working for them...is to be considered a threat. On top of that, disobeying and resisting them is something they don't take kindly too." She growled under her breath.

"Well, it seems we have that in common too...do you know of the safest way to get to Haven Village?" Palmon asked.

Renamon nodded, "Yes, I've been through these parts many times, I know these mountains and woods very well."

"Then it's settled...we should travel together." Mimi beamed with enthusiasm and turned to Matt, "After all, Gennai may have told us how to get there, but you never know if we could accidentally get lost...and besides, she says she knows these parts really well, so she probably even knows safer routes which Gennai wouldn't know."

"Yeah...all right. It makes sense, I guess she can tag along and show us the way." Matt scratched the top of his head.

"By the way, we never introduced ourselves to you—how impolite! My name is Mimi and this is my partner, Palmon. That's Matt and Gabumon, over here is T.K. and Patamon...and that's Yolei and Hawkmon." Mimi smiled.

"It is a pleasure...but we should probably get going though, we've got quite a bit of ground to cover." Renamon turned and motioned the group of eight to follow.

* * *

><p>The group made their way through the forest, about thirty minutes had passed sense they first encountered Renamon. So far she's proven that she's been nothing but trustworthy. But that wasn't really what was on Yolei's mind.<p>

She frowned as she continued to stare at her feet while they all hiked through the woods, she noticed Hawkmon shoot her a concerned glance once or twice from the corner of her eye, but he hadn't said anything yet. Which was fine, Yolei wasn't really in a mood to talk about it.

"How long til we get there?" Patamon asked.

"Depending on how fast we go, it can take from three to five days." Renamon answered.

"Hopefully the others will get there soon...I miss Agumon and the others, I can't wait to get there." Gabumon smiled.

"Like you'll ever get a chance!" A voice darkly laughed.

The new voice that appeared above them them, interrupted Yolei's thoughts. It also put the group on edge, they all fervently glanced around with caution. This definitely wasn't a good sign. Everyone gasped as they all looked above them, the source of that obnoxious but bitter group of cackling. They saw three familiar Digimon; MetalMamemon, BigMamemon, and Mamemon.

"And look MetalMamemon! One of the fugitives!" Mamemon chuckled.

"Lucky day! Lucky day!" BigMamemon bellowed.

Renamon pushed herself in front of the group of Digidestined and their Digimon. She glared bitterly up at the group of three Digimon. Everyone else stood in full attention, ready for anything, but stayed behind Renamon. Matt and Gabumon's glares practically matched Renamon's.

"How did you find us?" Renamon questioned.

"Simple, we were searching for ya' and when we stopped to take a break for breakfast nearby we thought we heard voices; naturally we followed and _boom_, here you all are." MetalMamemon laughed.

"Yolei, it's time I digivolve...Yolei?"

Yolei didn't hear Hawkmon. She stared at the same Digimon that hurt Hawkmon the last time...that MetalMamemon. The memory of Aquilamon getting attacked, de-digivolving back to Hawkmon, and being limp in her arms kept replaying over and over in her head.

"No…" She forced her eyes shut, clung to Hawkmon and shook her head.

"Yolei?"

"_Not again. No more...doesn't anyone understand how painful this is? Hawkmon doesn't deserve to get hurt! I can't...I won't make him go through that pain again!_" Yolei took a couple of deep breaths and kept her eyes shut to hold back the tears which she sensed wanted to fall out of her eyes.

* * *

><p>Renamon's body glowed, she then moved to stand on all fours instead. Her body glowed brighter, began to grow a bit, and changed shape.<p>

"Renamon digivolve to...Kyubimon!"

In place of Renamon was a larger, yellow fox Digimon on all fours, with nine tails, and a yin-yang symbol on her forehead. She was about three-fourths the size of a Garurumon, if Mimi had to guess.

"Kyubimon?" Mimi blinked.

"Kyubimon, she's Renamon's Champion level form! And good thing we have her on our side, Mimi, because she's one fighter!" Palmon grinned.

Mimi nodded in agreement, as she watched the Champion-Fox Digimon fearlessly tackle one of the Ultimate levels that were threatening them. Mamemon threw a bomb at her, but she swatted it with one of her nine-tails, it flew far away, crashing into some trees in the distance and blowing up away from them.

"It's our turn to digivolve as well." Matt turned to Mimi and T.K.

The three nodded and pulled out their digivices. Palmon and Gabumon readied their fighting stance, ready to digivolve. Patamon hopped off of T.K.'s head and landed next to the two, readied himself to join the battle as well. All three of their digivices began to beep as the familiar white light poured out of it; all three of their Digimon glowed in unison with their digivices at the same time.

* * *

><p>"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!"<p>

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"

"Palmon digivolve to…Togemon!"

Yolei didn't really pay attention to the battle at hand...no, how could she. Not when those images of the unconscious Hawkmon kept playing over and over again in her head.

But she just couldn't understand how everyone could do this, how they can risk themselves, and let their Digimon friends fight and risk hurting themselves...or worse.

_"That's what you're thinking, such uncharitable thoughts to have to a girl who wants to help you and comfort you. The truth of the matter is, you don't understand your friends very well, and you selfishly believe that they don't understand you. But you keep pretending, dancing along with your lies. It's truly pathetic that such an unsympathetic and insensitive girl dares to actually call herself, _human_…"_

She silently gasped as she remembered that creepy shadow creature that haunted her dreams from last night. She then felt herself become more melancholic. Of course...that was right. She couldn't understand, she was selfish and insensitive...she had no right to call herself a Digidestined. How could a geeky little brat like her ever be strong? Or ever come to understand? No...she never could.

"Yolei, we have to help them! Please I need to digivolve!" Hawkmon begged.

"No…not again! Not ever again, why can't you understand me, Hawkmon? I can't do this anymore...I can't see you get hurt anymore! I refuse…I won't allow it and if that makes me selfish, then _fine!_ I'd rather be selfish than go through all that again!" She barked.

Tiny drops of tears that she fought back did finally begin to form in the corners of her eyes. Unbeknownst to Yolei and Hawkmon, her crest began to glow…however, instead of glowing the color of her crest (magenta), instead of glowing its natural color and filled with warmth, it was glowing a faint black color, and was filled with a faint coldness.

"I won't let you fight anymore just to get hurt or even worse! I don't see how it's worth it! No more...I wish it would just stop! I wish we could just leave this horrible place and never come back!" Yolei cried.

* * *

><p>The battle wasn't nearly that even, sure their Digimon were putting up a good fight, but that didn't change the fact that there were three Ultimates they were facing.<p>

"Okay—now for Lillymon to join the fight!" Mimi's eyes burned with determination.

She squeezed her fingers around her crest, feeling already that all too familiar power that connects her with Togemon...her power. However she ceased focusing on the Crest of Sincerity...something didn't feel right. Mimi let go of her crest when she heard Yolei in the corner, speaking frantically to Hawkmon.

As the four Champions all tried to fight off the three Ultimates, Mimi let out a gasp and Hawkmon freaked out as a black aura was emitted from Yolei's crest and slowly consumed the two. Mimi ran over, and grabbed Yolei by the arm, trying to pull her away from the black smoky aura that has now taken over the ground around Yolei and tried to pull her down.

Yolei didn't seem to register it though. Her eyes were locked shut, as tears streamed down her face, she was in almost like...a sleep-like trance or something.

Hawkmon was clung onto her, and he frantically called out to her, but she didn't hear him. T.K., Mimi and Matt called her name, but there was no response from her, the darkness only grown around her, and she slowly sunk into it.

"Yolei?!" They all shouted at the same time.

It was enough, finally, Yolei's eyes snapped open, her face now filled with horror as she whipped her head around right and left; finally registering what was going on around her. Mimi pulled and pulled but Yolei was still sinking down.

"What's happening? What is this thing?" Yolei screamed in fear, before it finally swallowed her up, she screamed, "Mimi, get away before it gets you too!"

"Not a chance!" Mimi called down to the girl.

* * *

><p>Matt wasn't sure what to make of what just happened. That darkness...whatever it was...he tried to make sense of it. But Yolei was gone, Hawkmon too! They were completely engulfed in that dark smog! Mimi's arms were inside that...stuff...<p>

She tried and tried; struggling in vein to pull Yolei and Hawkmon back out, but to no avail. It was now sucking Mimi into it too. Her boots dragged across the dirt as it was sucking her down into it, slowly but surely.

Matt and T.K. ran up to her, both brothers grabbed onto Mimi's legs (as that was the only thing visible of Mimi now). They pulled as hard as they could, they could hear Mimi shouting something to them, but it was muffled. Their feet was getting dragged across the dirt as well, the only thing now visible of Mimi was her boots that they were holding onto.

But the pull then got stronger, Mimi slipped right out of T.K. and Matt's grasp.

"Mimi!" The two boys and Togemon yelled.

But she was gone. Her, Yolei and Hawkmon were gone in...whatever that thing was. The darkness was now small, like a tiny puff of smoke that emitted off the ground.

"What is that thing?" T.K. turned to Matt.

"I don't know...I mean...this is different than the darkness that attacked me and then later Sora too, right before our battle with Piedmon." Matt glared at the eerie-looking black aura that was clinging to the dirt like fire on wood.

No...he felt it down into his bones, this was something different, and whatever it was that attacked Yolei, dragged Mimi and Hawkmon along with her.

"Well, you guys are just making this easier for us- less pests for us to squash!" MetalMamemon cackled.

Matt glared at the obnoxious Digimon. Their Digimon couldn't do much...with the immediate threat on hand. They had to find some way to defeat those three, and rescue Mimi, Yolei and Hawkmon. The four champions tried to fight off the enemies again...but were getting beat up pretty bad. Angemon was holding out better, but the combined power of three Ultimates were just too much for the group.

But Matt knew now wasn't the time to give up hope...besides that wouldn't help Mimi, Yolei or Hawkmon either.

* * *

><p>Yolei's eyes shot open...she realized she was back in her and Chizuru's bedroom. She come home? A part of her was happy and relieved at first, but something felt...off. She took a moment to better absorb herself with her surroundings, and something definitely wasn't right...because clearly, the room that was lightly blanketed with a dark fog, she noticed, was just flat out not normal.<p>

She then realized Hawkmon was right next to her on her bed, she leaned over and cuddled the bird in her arms. How could everything go so wrong?

A few silent minutes had passed, and Hawkmon eventually came to in Yolei's arms...the poor Digimon moaned.

"Hawkmon, are you okay?" Yolei lightly pet the back of his head.

"Oh...I think so...where are we?" He rubbed his head with his wings to shake off the headache.

"This looks like my bedroom...but..." Yolei moved to open the bedroom door; her and Hawkmon gasped, seeing nothing but never-ending grey. Yolei slammed the door, "What on Earth?!"

"I take it this isn't normal in your world...?" Hawkmon asked, though really it wasn't a question, it was more of a statement.

"Definitely not..." Yolei looked over her room again and saw Mimi lying down on her sister's bed. "Mimi! Wake up Mimi!"

Hawkmon hopped down from Yolei's arms, as Yolei ran up to the other bed. Mimi didn't stir though, no matter how much Yolei shook her and called out her name. The older girl was out cold. Yolei sighed in defeat and plopped on the bed, sitting next to her unconscious friend. Hawkmon was about to say something, but they both then noticed Mimi's crest was glowing.

A ball of light came out of it and floated in front of Yolei and began to take shape. A girl that looked about Mimi's age emerged, translucent, like a ghost. She had blonde hair and was wearing a lavender hat, with a lavender jacket and skirt. Her shirt was white and blue striped.

"Finally, it's a good thing this other girl is here with her untainted crest." The see-through girl spoke, "I thought I'd never be able to get a hold of you otherwise! I was planning on trying to contact you telepathically...but what with how things turned out...I guess I'll have to settle for in person."

"Wait, what are you talking about? Who are you? How are you—?" Yolei asked.

"My name isn't that important right now...now to explain a bit how I can talk to you? You see, as I just mentioned I can communicate telepathically...although it has to be one of you guys with a crest...but the crest has to be untainted, not weighed down by negative emotions, insecurities and doubts, and boy Yolei, do you sure have a lot of them right now!" The ghost girl put both hands behind her back and paced back and forth around the room, "Yolei, you let these things cloud your judgment. Here in the Digital World, the power of your emotions, dreams and wishes are not a small thing. They can manifest. And by letting your doubts and negative emotions take root, they grew in power...granting your wish."

"Wish? What do you mean?" Yolei blinked.

"Don't you remember, you wished to get away from the Digital World? Granted, not even your own emotions are strong enough to bring you home...but close enough...you could say that we're within your own heart, Yolei. Only you can determine what it looks like...and if we can get out." Just before Yolei could say something, the blonde spirit-girl spoke again, "Yolei...do you know what your crest stands for?"

"No...I have no idea. Do you know?" Yolei asked.

"The Sovereigns told me and a few others the names of all twelve of the crests they created. You see, Yolei, you could say, I'm a part of a spirit left behind in the Digital World to watch over it, with the Sovereigns. I was one of the original five Digidestined long ago. Before we left, we left a little piece of us behind...so we could be of help. We stayed with the Sovereigns, but after all this happened to the Digital World, they released our spirits, to keep us hidden from the Dark Ones...but also...so we can help our successors, to guide you all so you can defeat the enemies of the Digital World."

"Wait original five—what?" Yolei tilted her head.

"Another time perhaps, enough about myself...let's talk about you. Your crest is called the _Crest of Empathy_." The girl pointed to the tag around Yolei's neck, the crest obscured by a black color.

Yolei blinked once or twice before her face twisted into a scowl. It was some sick joke right?

Why would possess the Sovereigns to give her a crest with that title? She was a selfish, insensitive girl who was obviously unsympathetic and lacked understanding about those around her. There was no way someone like her possessed such a trait, or could even wield such a trait.

"_Empathy_—is that some kind of joke? I mean, I can't understand why people are fighting and I feel like they don't understand me! I sound beyond selfish to others, don't I? Having all these uncharitable thoughts, thinking only of what I'd rather like, not wanting to fight and be a coward...weak and pathetic, right? But...I...can't help it. I don't want to be a part of this war or fighting. I'd rather be selfish than see anyone get hurt!" Yolei exclaimed in frustration, "Besides, my own siblings think of me as a selfish kid right? So it must be true!"

"Is that honestly what you think your own siblings think of you? Give me your digivice Yolei." The girl asked and Yolei handed it to her in confusion, surprised that the ghostly, see-through girl could actually hold it.

"You see, ever since Hawkmon got hurt and you were so distraught over it...with Gennai's help I found a way to contact your family. I told your siblings to send you an email." She pressed a button and instantly three letters materialized, "The Digital World can be so useful sometimes...things like this certainly wouldn't be possible...but I need to stop rambling—go on, read them."

She took her digivice and the three letters from the ghost girl's hands...not really sure how the heck she did that or how that stuff worked, but she'd wonder about that later. Yolei opened the first letter; it was from her second oldest sister, Chizuru.

"_Hey, Yolei. Some weird old guy came to us yesterday on our computer explaining you guys were in some place called the Digital World. It's all a bit hard to believe...but we quickly discovered he was telling us the truth. Anyways...Yolei__, I know that you're probably scared out of your wits right now. I wish I could take your place, so you wouldn't have to go through with this...but I know in my heart that you have what it takes to get through this and come home safely. You're a stronger person than you think, Yolei. I'm sorry about anything rude I've said to you in the past...truth is, I don't mean it. You're not bratty...yes you do come on strong and you can be short-sighted when it comes to others at times. But I've also seen you show that you are very caring and understanding. You listen to what other people have to say, I mean anytime I complain about something dumb, you still listen; and you try so hard to make other people happy, like you always do for us here. Get back safely okay...because I miss my strong and opinionated little sister. Keep fighting Yolei, we're praying for you here.—Chi"_

Yolei's eyes widened, she held back a gasp as she set down Chizuru's letter and opened up Momoe's.

"_Well, you don't have to worry about things here, okay, Yolei? We're all doing fine. I hope you are. You're in another world, huh? That's both crazy and scary! But to be honest, it makes sense this world would rather have you, than the rest of us. You're so strong and smart, Yolei. You're never afraid to speak your mind, and you don't let anyone sway you when you made up your mind. Don't ever doubt yourself, Yolei...because none of us do. I know you can do it! You're deep down a really sweet and caring girl, hang onto those traits, something in my heart tells me this...so hang onto them and you'll be alright. I'm sorry I always kick you out when I'm hanging with my friends. When you come back, I promise it'll be different...but you have to promise you'll come back okay? We miss you! Hang in there, Yolei, we're rooting for you.—Momo"_

"They...they really think this about me?" Yolei managed to squeak out of her throat as she set Momoe's letter down and picked up Mantarou's.

"_Hey squirt...you hanging in there alright? Well, you better, because if you don't, we're all gonna be very sad back home. You're a little ray of sunshine in this cramped house Yolei. I know we don't express it, but we do care about you. You're a smart girl Yolei. And at times, you're pretty thoughtful for a kid your age. I always see you looking out for that kid in our complex, Cody. I am really proud of you for looking out for him like that always, Yolei. He may not show it all the time, but you can bet he's grateful that you're always there for him after what happened to his dad. Yes, sometimes you can seem selfish, but you're human Yolei. We all can get selfish sometimes, it's natural. You're a lot more compassionate than you think Yolei. A lot more than we give you credit for. Give that Digital World some of that Yolei compassion...they probably need it. I can't think of anyone much better suited to help them out than you. You're smart, strong, and kind. And yeah, I know I'm getting mushy, but only because you're my baby sister. It's okay if I get mushy with you from time to time. So show those bad guys or whoever whose boss! Kick them to the curb then come back home! We're all waiting Yolei, we believe in you squirt.—Taro"_

"They...think I'm kind and thoughtful? They think I can be strong...Hawkmon...they believe in me!" Yolei smiled through bittersweet tears, "My siblings don't actually think I'm some annoying brat! They really don't!"

"Why would they think that, Yolei? You're a very nice girl...a bit on the strong side when it comes to speaking out...and when you hug me, you certainly do get carried away with your emotions and nearly squeeze the life out of me...but, you're just true to your feelings one hundred percent! And I find that to be a part of your charm." Hawkmon smiled.

"My charm, huh?" She laughed quietly wiping away her tears.

"Yolei...try to think...why is it that your friends are able to fight? Try to think...tell me, why would these people fight, putting themselves and their own partners on the line...all for a world they aren't a part of? Think hard and try to see it through their eyes, okay?" The girl asked.

"I guess..." She started, thinking of T.K., Mimi, and Matt, remembering the things she heard them say and how they acted around their Digimon.

Then it hit her...

"This is...this is the Digimon's home." She blinked in realization.

How could she be so dumb and not even notice it before? She was so wrapped up in her feelings, fears and doubts, that she completely let herself to be blind from something that should be obvious. She began to realize what Mimi and T.K. had been trying to tell her that whole time she had been there.

"And our Digimon are our friends...if this was the human world, we'd do anything to help our friends protect their homes...it shouldn't be any different. And more than that...if we have the power to do something, we should do it! If you care about someone, you should help them! And if innocent creatures are getting oppressed, no one would stand for that back home, so we shouldn't stand for it here either! Unlike back home, we're not just kids, here we can do something about it!" She glanced down at Hawkmon.

The Digimon smiled up at her, she smiled back down at him. She then tilted her head back up and faced the apparition girl, who nodded at her, but Yolei then felt a frown morph back onto her face.

"I can understand how they'd be willing to risk their own lives...but not the lives of our friends...not of our partner Digimon, I just...I can't understand...well I mean to say that is—"

"Yolei...you don't want to see me hurt, in pain, or dead...right?" Hawkmon interrupted her.

"Well of course!" She answered immediately, "You're my friend Hawkmon! I was so distraught; I can't imagine what it'd be like to lose you. And you did all that to protect me! I just want to protect you...keep you safe."

"Then...Yolei, you already do understand. You understand how I feel about you. You see why I want to fight?" Hawkmon nodded.

"Hawkmon..." She forced herself not to have anymore tears fall from her eyes, "I'm so sorry...of course...you just want to protect me, and I just want to protect you. I get it now."

Again...it was so obvious. They have to fight because they want to protect each other from the evil forces that want to hurt them...they have to fight, not because they want to, but because it's necessary. There are innocent lives out there getting hurt, and sitting there crying won't help them. Sitting there saying you don't want to fight, doesn't stop Hawkmon or other Digimon getting hurt.

Those evil Digimon already want to hurt them...they planned on it. That isn't an outcome she could change. But by not fighting back, it only would cause more damage. They have to defend themselves, the innocent, and what they hold dear. There probably will be casualties in their upcoming battles, probably even worse than some of the ones they gone through recently...but the evil ones already made their choice.

They were going to hurt and keep hurting. Yolei can't change that fact. She can close her eyes and wish with all her might the fighting would stop...but that wasn't realistic. That was childish. She may not be able to prevent pain and suffering from happening ever again...but at the very least, they can help decrease it by fighting back. They can at least restore some hope back. They can at least save the lives around them that are still around, that need saving.

Her and Hawkmon and the others wouldn't be fighting to hurt...they would be fighting to defend. But also, more personally, they'd be fighting to protect each other...the ones they loved and cared deeply for.

"That's why we fight. Not just to protect innocent Digimon and punish bad ones...but because we care about you and want to see you safe." Hawkmon hugged the girl.

"But to protect our friends...protect those that we love. Hawkmon...I don't know it's enough...but I'll give you whatever power I have—all of it! That way we can protect each other and the rest of our friends...and help save this world!" The blackness around Yolei's crest began to fade and it started to faintly glow in a warm light, not that she noticed at first.

"Yolei, your power is more than enough. I know that for a fact." Hawkmon nodded against the legs girl who he still held onto tightly in a hug.

"Thank you—for helping me see and for helping me to understand. I know what I have to do. " Yolei smiled at the girl who waved goodbye before fading away.

The world around them turned back into what Yolei's room normally looked like in the real world and everything was bright, it was filled with a warmth, it was very comforting and inviting.

"_I can't believe how blind I was. Thank you, everyone...my friends, Chi, Momo, Taro...Hawkmon. Thanks for showing me how wrong I was and helped me see the truth, I promise I won't let any of you down! This time__—this time I really won't be a burden. I'll pick myself up and move forward, because you all showed me how! Empathy, huh? Well, it's time to prove my worth!_" Yolei thought to herself and pulled the digivice out from her pocket as the small screen glowed brightly.

"Let's go save our friends, Hawkmon!" The digivice beeped as she squeezed it in her hand, light poured out from it as Hawkmon glowed in unison with it.

"Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquilamon!"

Yolei grabbed Mimi and jumped onto Aquilamon's back, she tightly closed her eyes as everything around her faded to white.

* * *

><p>"Matt, look!" T.K. exclaimed as he pointed to the black aura...smoke.<p>

It was beginning to fade away, but then a bright white light shot out of the ground, like a pillar. And in it revealed, Aquilamon with Yolei and Mimi on his back. T.K. felt his mouth form into a grin that stretched across his entire face, a light laughter escaped his lips.

They were alright!

The two boys ran over and grabbed the unconscious Mimi carefully, as Yolei passed her off to them. Yolei then hopped down and nodded at Aquilamon. The bird took flight, and went to attack the three evil Digimon with the other Champions.

"It's Mimi and the others!" Togemon announced, punching away one of the Mamemon nonchalantly.

"Ow! What the heck?" The Mamemon growled.

T.K. couldn't help but smile, things were starting to turn around. Mimi was even beginning to stir. With the girls back, and Mimi starting to wake up, they'd have not only Aquilamon backing them up in this fight, but soon they'd be having Lillymon's support as well.

"What happened?" Mimi asked, finally back to the land of the conscious.

"I was about to ask the same question." Matt helped the girl back up to her feet.

"Trust me...it's a long story. But, Mimi, I'm so glad you're okay. Sorry I dragged you into all of that. It was my fault...but don't worry, we'll never see that happening again! You can count on it! Now come on! Let's show these stupid Mamemon brothers what we're made of!" Yolei exclaimed, punching the air directly above her with her right fist.

"Whoa...what happened to you?" T.K. blinked, puzzled.

Yolei scratched her cheek, stuck her tongue out and giggled as her cheeks slightly tinged the color pink. She then switched her expression back to her earlier determined and confident face, "Let's just say...this girl finally woke up...YEAH! GO GET HIM AQUILAMON! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!"

T.K. chuckled quietly, Mimi smiled warmly and Matt just stared at Yolei in confusion. They weren't sure where this girl got the sudden change of heart from, but they knew one thing for certain, that timid and doubtful girl was gone and wasn't coming back.

* * *

><p>Matt just shook his head and turned to Mimi, "So, are you alright? That dark stuff didn't do anything weird or hurt you both, did it?"<p>

"I don't really remember anything that happened after whatever that was, swallowed us up, don't worry though, I'm alright. But I had the strangest feeling someone was looking out for us. I guess that's maybe why Yolei and I are okay." Mimi chirped happily then added, "I hope we didn't worry you and T.K. too much."

"Too much? So how worried should we be if we see two of our friends get sucked into some dark-whatever-the-heck-it was...I'm curious, Mimi?" Matt raised one eyebrow.

Mimi giggled, "Sorry, we'll try our best not to get into any more trouble."

"Good…I'm holding you to that." He shoved his hands back into his pockets. Mimi gave him a wink as she giggled; Matt rolled his eyes in response and turned his attention back to the battle.

"It's time we show them what we're made of too!" Mimi's crest glowed brightly as she turned to Togemon.

"Togemon digivolve to…Lillymon!"

"What the—that one digivolved! But how? They shouldn't be able to be doing that!" MetalMamemon growled.

"Oh boys...try this on for size!" Lillymon winked at them before she flew up higher, and her two arms formed into her weapon, "Flower-Cannon!"

The blast smacked into Mamemon and BigMamemon, sending them toppling several feet, before they crashed hard into a tree, causing it to break on impact. Angemon flew over to Lillymon and his right hand glowed. He fired his attack at both of the downed Ultimates.

"Hand of Fate!"

They were blasted further into several other trees behind the one they knocked down previously. They got up from the pile of broken wood and branches, both nervous and furious. The two Digimon shook in pain on the ground as Lillymon gave Angemon a thumbs up, who smiled at her and nodded in return

At the same time that was happening; Garurumon, Aquilamon and Kyubimon all fired their attacks at MetalMamemon in unison.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Grand Horn!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

It didn't do a lot of damage as hoped it might, but the combined efforts of their attack had wounded MetalMamemon. His metal coat cracked a bit, the Digimon roared in anger.

"You're all nothing but weaklings!"

* * *

><p>"Weaklings? Well, I'd rather be a weakling if being strong means you hurt others!" Yolei shouted.<p>

She couldn't even begin to comprehend these Digimon. They were nothing short of bullies, how could they enjoy hurting the innocent and defenseless?

"I can't even begin to fathom what it's like to lose everything you love...but I know so many innocent Digimon probably do. You creatures have taken away their homes, freedom, friends, and their hope! Well no more, I'm not going to sit by on the sidelines anymore and just let this happen! You're never going to hurt anyone again, I won't let you get away with it!" Yolei yelled, determination burned in her eyes.

"_Everyone has been fighting so hard and it's been about time I do the same. I won't let my friends fight alone anymore while I cry. Not when I understand finally everything that's happening._" Yolei's crest burned brightly as she thought this.

Yolei looked down in amazement; it felt so warm and comforting. She was awed by this feeling as she gazed into the magenta colored light that was emitting from her crest. Aquilamon's body began to glow the same color and Yolei's crest, as she heard a heartbeat going off in her head. It felt so surreal to her.

"_That heartbeat__...is that mine? No...that's Aquilamon's! I can feel it. His heart...I get it...this is exactly what Aquilamon is feeling. We're in unison with each other, this is__—our power!_"

"Aquilamon digivolve to…Hippogriffmon!"

A white large hippogriff looking Digimon appeared where Aquilamon once was. Everyone stared at it in amazement. The three evil Digimon however, had both been nervous and seething in anger at this new Digimon's appearance.

Yolei's eyes lit up...Aquilamon now digivolved to his Ultimate form! Her power...his power...their power, it made him even more stronger. And he was beautiful, like some mythological creature in a painting. She looked down and noticed her digivice changed color, it was now a magenta color, the whole thing, and it was vibrating, she could feel a warm comfort seep out of it.

"Hippogriffmon, it's about time you showed up, I was wondering when I'd get to see your Ultimate form!" Garurumon shouted up to her winged Digimon.

"We did it! You digivolved!" Yolei exclaimed, "Now teach those jerks a lesson!"

"Gladly...Sonic Voice!"

Hippogriffmon let out a shriek, the sound waves aimed at MetalMamemon, who covered his ears, paralyzed by the sound attack.

"Heatwave!"

He flapped his wings as red energy blast fired out of them, crashing into MetalMamemon.

"Flower-Cannon!"

Lillymon fired her blast twice at Mamemon, the two blasts together were so powerful, that Mamemon's body exploded into bits of data instantly; his digital body no longer able to withstand the attacks.

"M-Mamemon?" MetalMamemon gulped.

"Duh...uh-oh...we in trouble." BigMamemon hid behind MetalMamemon as the five Digimon surrounded them.

"Please show some mercy on us! Don't you have any pity—any sympathy? We were just following orders!" MetalMamemon groveled.

Yolei felt her blood boil at that. She could feel the group around her probably felt the same as her. She was about to say something, but Kyubimon beat her to it first.

"Oh—so I suppose you _didn't _enjoy helping Etemon destroy our homes and taking everyone captive?" Kyubimon growled.

"Show some mercy? Like the kind of mercy you showed us and our friends?!" Matt shouted.

"And most people don't laugh when their trying to kill people if they are, as you say,_ just following orders_!" Mimi hissed.

"The only thing I pity is that you're not sorry for hurting innocent Digimon or attacking us...you're all evil, just like the masters you work for—you delight in making others suffer!" T.K. fired back at the two Digimon.

Yolei took a breath, the blood still simmering inside her, she needed to say her piece, she couldn't stand these bullies. And there was no way she wasn't going to tell them off!

"You know, if you were forced to do this...if it was you only followed their orders in fear...then yeah—I'd sympathize with you. I'm sure those guys are scary. Heck I'm sure you'd hate to make your masters mad, but...I can't sympathize with Digimon who turn their back on their own kind, and help these evil monsters destroy this world and hurt innocent Digimon just trying to live their lives peacefully I bet! You guys enjoy hurting others, you like following these orders! You're sick!" Yolei yelled, and then she clenched her fists tightly as she spat out, "You don't care what you put those you hurt, through...to you, I bet it's just a sport!"

"It's not our fault this world is made up of weaklings...serves them right if they can't handle our Masters' greatness and visions." MetalMamemon snorted, without an ounce of remorse.

Why was she not surprised, of course they weren't sorry for what they had done. They were heartless bullies, but now they're time of avoiding their punishment for the pain they caused was done.

"That's enough out of you; it's time for you to be punished for your crimes against the Digital World." Angemon spoke up.

The Champions all attacked the two Digimon again at once.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Dragon Wheel!"

The metal coat on MetalMamemon began to crack even more…both Digimon covered in bruises and burns. Lillymon and Hippogriffmon finished them off with their attacks. Lillymon fired on BigMamemon and Hippogriffmon fired his attack on MetalMamemon.

"Flower-Cannon!"

"Heatwave!"

Both of the Digimon burst into bits of data. Everyone cheered and relieved, the battle was finally over. Mimi, in her excitement, glomped both Matt and T.K. Matt shoved her off, but T.K. happily joined in and glomped both Mimi and Matt. T.K. and Mimi both laughed as Matt groaned in defeat and gave up. Mimi and T.K. then ran up and glomped Yolei, who gladly hugged the two back. Matt silently smiled shaking his head.

"What am I going to do with those guys?" He chuckled lightly.

* * *

><p>Renamon watched the human children and their Digimon with fascination. Humans were so very different from Digimon...but at the same time...they didn't seem all that different either.<p>

Matt smiled deviously, and tackled T.K. and everyone laughed as the two boys began to wrestle each other.

The Digimon all de-digivolved, back to their Rookie levels. Gabumon and Patamon jumped on Matt and T.K., joining them in their wrestling fun. Renamon walked over to the two girls with their Digimon, Palmon and Hawkmon, who hugged both of the girls' legs.

"Palmon, I'm so glad you're all right." Mimi knelt down and hugged the plant Digimon.

"Not as glad as I am!" Palmon exclaimed.

"We did it Hawkmon! We really did it!" Yolei squeezed the living daylights out of the poor thing.

"Yolei! Air!" Hawkmon gasped.

"Right...sorry." She laughed nervously as she let him go.

"I was quite proud of you today Yolei. I bet wherever your family is...right now they are too." Hawkmon smiled.

"Thanks Hawkmon."

Renamon watched the exchange with curiosity, not entirely sure what all of it meant, it was obviously a personal matter, but the girl was okay now...so really that was all that mattered. She smiled softly, almost felt herself envious of these Digimon. These Digidestined, these human children—were special, no doubt about that.

To share their powers with the likes of them...it was a blessed privileged that she found herself wishing she could experience.

Yolei then turned to Mimi with an evil grin on her face, "Let's sneak attack them while they're distracted!"

Renamon watched in amusement as the girls snuck up behind the boys who were preoccupied wrestling each other, to even notice them. Yolei ran ahead, jumping on top of the younger blond boy first.

"Yolei Sneak Attack!"

"Ah—Yolei! Hey watch it!" T.K. protested as Yolei had the boy in a headlock.

She ripped off his hat and proceeded to mercilessly mess around with his hair. The boy moved around and struggled, but he couldn't get out of the girl's grip very well being trapped in her headlock...until she shoved him down and pinned him to the ground, then proceeded to mess with his hair even more.

"Patamon, help!" T.K.'s tone was a combination of pleading and laughing.

Instead of helping him, Patamon giggled and helped Yolei in messing around with T.K.'s hair.

"Hey, you traitor!"

Matt bursted out laughing, watching the scene in front of him, one hand on Gabumon's head, who was in his lap, laughing with Matt, as they both watched T.K. get squished by Yolei and Patamon. The boy was so distracted he didn't see the mischievous chestnut-haired girl behind him. Though Renamon imagined that Mimi would make him soon regret that.

"Mimi-Cannon!"

Mimi cannon-balled herself into Matt's lap, nearly taking out Gabumon. The boy freaked out and shoved her away, his face burning a pink color...amusingly. Mimi just glomped him and dragged him and Gabumon over, throwing them both on top of T.K., Yolei and Patamon.

"And now...Mimi Atomic Piledriver Attack!" The girl declared in an over the top manner, as she leaped onto the dog-pile she just created.

"That Mimi is a lot stronger than she looks." Hawkmon said to Palmon.

"You're Yolei is no pushover either." Palmon smiled.

Palmon giggled, and ran ahead, to jump onto the dog-pile with Mimi. Hawkmon turned to Renamon, waved at her and decided to jump into the pile as well.

_"Interesting people...these Digidestined. When I see them like this…it's hard to believe the kind of power these kids have._" Renamon mused to herself, and smiled softly once more, _"And yet...at the same time, I can see why they have the kind of powers they do."_

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Angemon and Lillymon are like some of my FAVORITE Digimon! They are so awesome! Ahem…anyways…**

**Okay, so apparently Aquilamon can only DNA-digivolve in order to reach Ultimate…which I find kind of lame. I think he should have his own Ultimate form like the others. (Veemon and Armadillomon are the same…but I have that planned out too) So I did some searches on Bird Digimon and I chose Hippogriffmon, simply because he kind of reminded me of Halsemon (one of Hawkmon's armor digivolved forms…in case if anyone doesn't remember). And two…because he looks really cool! **

**_ digimon(-dot-)wikia(-dot-)com(-forwardslash-)wiki( -forwardslash-)Hippogriffomon _ (remove the everything in the parenthesis and replace them with actual dots and forward slashes...well duh you people probably already know that why am I telling you?...idk)  
><strong>

**I wanted the course of Yolei's character development these past two chapters…to kind of mirror-a homage if you will…to both Mimi and Sora (Mimi in the Dark Masters Arc with not wanting to fight…and Sora with her crest when she doubted she was a loving person-but then finally understood when she realized she was treating Biyomon the same as her mother treats her (Sora) and that she is a loving person and her mom does love her). By tying it into her self doubts, her fears and hatred of seeing people get hurt when fighting and her own insecurities with her family. But at the same time…I also wanted it while being homage-to also be something her own. Her own growth that is similar to theirs, but is still different in its own way. So I hope I pulled that off. I hope I did a good job with her character so far. It wasn't easy. Yolei was one of my least favorite characters (along with Cody)…but I felt they deserved better character development and especially better focus on their characters and exploration of their characters than what we got. So I hope I did her justice. I have to say, even if nobody likes it, I sure do. Because exploring through Yolei's character, and making her grow has helped me come to find a new love and appreciation for her…(and Cody)…yes I would go as far as to say, I'm growing to love these two and become a fan of both! :D**

**Also, Renamon appeared in Digimon Tamers (for anyone who hasn't watched past season 02 or just don't remember) You can check her out on the Digimon wikia too. (and her champion form Kyubimon as well).**

**Also that girl Yolei saw? Yes…I purposefully made her basically in looks and in voice, Zoe from the 4****th**** Digimon season…Digimon Frontier. No the frontier kids, not ALL of them, are the originals Digidestineds that she was referencing. Basically I'm going to pick out kids from different seasons and continuities and they will be the original five. I thought it'd be a cool little shout out to include other kids from other seasons and continuities as the original Digidestined. Oh and so much more…I CAN'T WAIT till I reveal it all! :D**

**Please leave a review! :D But no flames though…or else you shall be getting a visit from the ghost of Myotismon! COME TO TORMENT YOU! D8**

**Ahem…all sillyness aside…hope you enjoyed the chapter! And special thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia for helping me out with this chapter. :)**


	13. Goggle-Head In Distress

**Chapter 13: Goggle-Head In Distress  
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**_Re-edit Note: (May 16, 2013)_ ****_I still got 14 & 15 left to go to get my re-edits all done (heck yes baby, almost finished!), so everything looks and matches my later chapters._**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

Tai, Sora, Kari, Izzy and Davis continued trotting along the path with their Digimon, having walked for almost a full day at that point. It was late- the sun had already begun to set- not that you could see it for the skies had darkened with clouds.

Tai encouraged the group to pick up the pace in hopes of finding some decent shelter before the rain started to fall. He noticed that everyone had was starting to get weary from all the walking. He took the bag from his little sister's arms, noticing that she was lagging behind.

"Oh thank you, Tai...I'm sorry, you don't have to—"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm your big brother, I don't mind one bit." Tai smiled down at his younger sister and she smiled back at him.

Davis observed the action between the two siblings then turned to Sora.

"Hey, Sora, I can carry your bag for you if you want…" Davis offered.

"Aw, that's okay. But thanks for offering." Sora nodded.

What was Davis up too? I mean sure Davis wasn't a mean kid or anything...but that was unusually considerate for him. Davis is usually oblivious to that sort of stuff.

"You sure, I mean...I'm not carrying anything and well, I wanna be more helpful, ya know?" Davis scratched his cheek.

"Well alright—if you insist." Sora handed her bag over to the younger boy.

Kari beamed at Davis, "That was really nice of you."

"Well...you know, I just want to be a helpful guy..." Davis rubbed the back of his neck as he laughed awkwardly, his cheeks were brushed with pink.

Tai rolled his eyes while Sora giggled in response. Did Davis do it because he was trying to copy what Tai did with Kari...or was it because he was trying to impress Kari (or both)? Tai just shook his head, it really wasn't that important, it was then he noticed that Izzy stopped dead in his tracks. The group all came to a halt, as they all blinked, curious as to why the red-head stopped.

"Izzy, is something wrong?" Tentomon asked.

The redhead pulled his tag out, a grin forming on his face, "Prodigious!"

"What is it?" Davis blinked, before his face morphed into understanding.

Tai and Sora froze and Biyomon, Agumon and Veemon looked up at their partners then back at Izzy. Gatomon hopped on Kari's shoulder to get a better look of the tag Izzy was holding up, which now blinked with a faint purple light. The kids and their Digimons' eyes all grew wide as they smiled; they knew exactly what that meant.

"Izzy, which way is the crest?" Tentomon inquired with excitement.

The boy pointed to their right, at the vast, flat grasslands ahead, "My guess is somewhere out in those plains."

Tai pulled out his miniature telescope, pointing it in that direction. He continued to scan the flat lands until he spotted something.

"I think I found something!" Tai announced.

"What do you see?" Agumon asked.

"It looks like a small house in the middle of nowhere." He packed his telescope back into his bag.

"A house...really?" Sora grinned, "This is great—it's looks like we've found some descent shelter."

"Looks like we won't have to worry about getting wet tonight!" Gatomon hopped off Kari's shoulder in excitement, Kari giggled as she nodded at her cat partner.

"And I bet that's where my crest is hidden at." Izzy stated, jumping ahead with the rest of their group behind him.

Tai felt a single drop of cold water hit him on the tip of his nose. He trekked on ahead faster, everyone following him as one by one, little drops of rain fell from the sky. They ran faster and faster, wanting to reach the shelter before the rain got heavier. By the time they reached what looked like a cabin in the middle of nowhere, it had begun to pour. Luckily they made it out in time and their clothes were only a little damp.

Izzy double checked his tag, which blinked brighter and faster. It was pulling him towards inside the cabin, his computer-savvy friend grinned broadly.

"I'd definitely say my crest is in this lodging." Izzy said with enthusiasm.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's head inside!" Tai exclaimed as he pushed the door open.

While it was small, the house had a second floor...it seemed like there were two bedrooms upstairs. A table with a few chairs was off to the side, but no kitchen. There were two couches and a potted tree on the other side of the room.

What was even stranger was that clearly, a brick fireplace should have been there; they could clearly envision it. Firewood rested on the ground beside the area and a rug was in front yet there was actually no opening for a fireplace, like someone covered up the fireplace. It was...just a brick pillar, and a giant stone that was where an opening to the fireplace should be.

That was when Izzy, was the first to notice something about the strange should-be-a-fireplace, thing. The large square stone where the fireplace should have been, started to glow purple, at the same time and pulsing with Izzy's tag; on it was the symbol for the Crest of Knowledge.

Izzy grinned and ran up to it. He held his tag out towards the stone. It shrunk down to a tiny size and the crest fixed itself into his tag. He smiled back at the group; Tentomon was especially overjoyed and ran up to Izzy, danced around shouting that they would be able to digivolve again.

Sora took that moment to head up the stairs and checked the two rooms they saw when they entered.

As she came back down the stairs she turned to Tai and said, "We're in luck, two bedrooms, each with three beds. There is even a bathroom connected to each room."

"Wow, talk about luck alright." Kari nodded in agreement.

"Well, it looks like we won't be able to go out looking for dinner in this weather...luckily our parents packed some snacks in me and Kari's bags." Tai stated.

"My mother did as well." Sora unzipped her bag.

"Same here." Izzy did the same.

Izzy pulled out a small bag of chips and handed them over to Tentomon. They all pulled out more snacks and passed them around. Kari handed a package of rice crackers to Davis.

"For me?" Davis blushed.

"Of course, who else would it be for, silly?" Kari giggled and said, "You gave me your delicious fish that you caught the other night, so it's only fair that I share something with you."

"Thanks, Kari!" Davis happily took the bag of food, and munched down on it.

Kari handed out two more bags, one to Gatomon and the other to Veemon, before she pulled out one more bag for herself. Agumon chowed down on the chips and a box of pocky Tai had given him, while the he ate some of the rice crackers his mother had packed for him. Sora shared some of the dried fruit her mother prepared for her with Biyomon. Izzy chewed quietly on some chips and crackers that were in his bag, then set down the bag that held his stuff in between him and Tentomon.

"Kari, can I see your digivice please?" Izzy asked after he swallowed.

"Of course, here you go, Izzy." Kari handed over the device; Izzy inspected it with curiosity that wiggled through each of his finger tips.

"Izzy, what is it?" Tentomon asked.

"Davis, can I see yours as well?" Izzy asked.

"Sure." Davis pulled his out of his pocket and handed it to Izzy.

"Fascinating…" Izzy looked at Davis and Kari's digivices.

The shape was very different from that of the original ones and they each had their own unique color. The outer edge of Kari's digivice was a rose pink, while Davis's was a deep ocean blue. Izzy then held them up to Tai and Sora.

"They're so much different than ours. The shape and color, see?" Izzy gestured.

"You're right, I wonder why that is?" Biyomon wondered out loud.

Tai never really paid too much attention to that detail before. But now that Izzy mentioned it...it was...odd.

"Well, I remember Gennai mentioning something about Kari and T.K. getting new digivices with the new Digidestined." Sora took Kari's digivice from Izzy's hand and she and Tai gazed intently at it.

"That's right; he did say something about that. I wonder why it's so different though." Tai nibbled on a rice cracker.

"Well, if you remember, Gennai said that he thinks that they have some other power our digivices did not have, but the Sovereigns didn't have a chance to tell him. I just wonder what it could be though, what other purpose could these digivices function as that ours can't, and as to what it is, and why we'll need that function for the challenges we'll no question end up facing in the near future." Izzy handed the digivice back to Davis, as Sora did the same with Kari's.

"Well, no sense in worrying over it right now, we'll figure it out sooner or later, we always do." Tai finished off a few more rice crackers, before handing over the bag to Agumon, who gladly finished off the rest for him.

"That's right, I'm certain whatever the reason for it is the Sovereigns knew we'd need whatever power they could give us in order to defeat the Dark Ones." Agumon said with a full mouth.

Veemon let out a huge yawn, which became contagious as the rest of the gang then did the same. Tai grabbed onto the straps of his bag and threw it over his shoulder as he stood up, "We should all probably get some shut eye...looks like the storm isn't going to let up any time soon, and besides- night is starting to fall anyways."

They gathered their things and went upstairs. The three boys took the bedroom on the left and the girls took the one on the right. Not over a half of an hour later; the teens, preteens, and their Digimon partners all rested comfortably in the soft beds they found in the abandoned cabin.

* * *

><p>So far Davis was having a wonderful dream, everything was going the way he would want it to be. He and the rest of the Digidestined defeated a bunch of evil monsters, saving the Digital World. They all returned back home to their families, his parents were so proud of him that they gave him a raise in his allowance, and even Jun said that she missed her little brother, promising to never nag him again because she had just missed him too much. He became the star soccer player of his team; he was so good that even Tai was impressed.<p>

After Davis scored the winning goal of the game, all of his friends ran up to congratulate him, Yolei announced to the group they should all go out for dinner and play at the arcade to celebrate the win. But not before the greatest moment ever happened in his dream. To congratulate him on his winning goal, Kari gave Davis a chaste peck on the lips. Yep…it was at that moment Davis felt life was indeed perfect.

But the happy dream was cut short as the sound of thunder echoed throughout the soccer field. The scenery and his friends all vanished into thin air, everything was dark and dreary. Something didn't feel right.

"Okay, somebody better put everything back the way it was, bring my friends back, and tell me what the heck is going on!" Davis growled.

Though he didn't want to admit it to himself, a part of him was intimidated by the dark feeling that lurked all around him...the wind around him howled as everything faded away to a lifeless, dreary land. Though, he was also partly annoyed because it was at that moment that Davis realized he had to be in a dream.

_"Man and it was such an awesome dream too! When I get my hands on whatever interrupted it__—!"_

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a chill in the air that made him hold his breath for a brief second, his lungs momentarily frozen with a prickly, cold frost.

Nevertheless, he stood firm, ready to face whatever the dream wanted to throw at him...sure he was a little nervous—but he prepared himself to face whatever was headed his way. Davis whipped his head around to face whatever this dark feeling was that lurked about in his dream, but not one second after he had done that, he heard another loud crack of thunder, but this time, he didn't hear it in the dream. He felt himself instantly brought back from the land of sleep as his eyelids forced themselves open. Davis looked around the room and noticed that Tai, Izzy, their Digimon, and Veemon were all still fast asleep as the rain poured down on the small shelter and lightning flashed outside the window.

"Davis?" It looked like Tai wasn't asleep after all, "Can't sleep?"

"The storm woke me up." Davis answered.

"Same here...hey, you okay?" Tai asked.

"I don't know…I sort of had a weird dream…" Davis shut his eyes and tried to recall the dream then laughed, "You know what, it doesn't matter because I don't even remember how my dream went."

The storm had calmed down a bit; Tai and Davis were able to get some sleep. The rain completely cleared up by the time morning came.

* * *

><p>When the group packed up and left the small cabin, they thought they saw something going on in the distance. It looked like a group of Digimon...there were five of them. Four had ganged up on the other one; the battle seemed one-sided and brutal.<p>

They instantly recognized the Digimon who were attacking the other one, three Mamemon and one BigMamemon.

"Aw, just great—_not_ those stupid _"Mamemon brothers"_—douchbags again!" Davis growled but then his puzzled face turned to Izzy, "But who are they attacking?"

Sora, Izzy, Tai and Kari gasped; the Digimon they barraged with their assault was an android-looking Digimon. The four and their Digimon knew exactly who that Digimon was.

"It's Andromon!" Sora exclaimed, Davis was confused but Sora quickly explained, "He's an old friend of ours. He helped us in our battle with Piedmon."

"Well it looks like he could use some back up!" Davis pulled out his digivice, "Ready Veemon?"

"That's supposed to be my line, Davis..." Tai chuckled and turned to Agumon, "It's payback time!"

Veemon and Agumon nodded to their partners. The two digivices beeped as light poured out of them. Agumon and Veemon glowed in sync with the devices and their bodies began to change shape.

"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!"

"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

The two Champion Digimon charged ahead, Davis and Tai running directly behind them.

"Come on, we're not going to let them take all the action, are we?" Sora laughed towards Izzy.

The brainy red-head smiled and nodded at her, they both pulled out their digivices, a faint beeping was heard from the two digivices and an all too familiar glow illuminated from the digivices and Digimon.

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

* * *

><p>In the distance, a figure appeared on top of the roof of the cabin, a ghost Digimon with a large sickle-like weapon. A small group of other ghost-like Digimon appeared behind him, they were Bakemon...the Digimon in front was a Phantomon.<p>

"Master Phantomon, sir...should we assist in attacking the Digidestined?" One of the Bakemon spoke up.

"Not yet...let us just assess the situation for now. I've been hearing reports that some of the Mamemon brothers have been killed off. Eight of the twelve children we've been told shouldn't have this power anymore. And as for the other four—we have no idea if they've received crests or if they've been activated. We need to gather information first before taking any action. I'm certain Lord Etemon would want to know why some of his soldiers have been taken out so easily." Phantomon answered.

"Yes, Sir, we're all standing by and will await your orders." They vanished, and Phantomon turned his attention back to the battle in the field.

* * *

><p>"Nova Blast!"<p>

"X-Laser!"

Greymon and ExVeemon made themselves known; they fired their attacks directly at the BigMamemon. BigMamemon backed away a few feet, startled by the sudden attack. Just when the other three Mamemon looked and saw the others, Gatomon, Kabuterimon and Birdramon attacked.

"Lightning Claw!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Meteor Wing!"

They had to step back a few feet from the impact of the attack. It didn't do a lot of damage, but they were definitely annoyed.

"Looks like the kiddies survived after all, well looks like we'll have to take you all out at once then!" One of the Mamemon sneered.

Kari and Tai ran up to Andromon and helped him back up to his feet. Izzy, Davis and Sora ran up too, Andromon smiled when he saw four faces that he knew very well. The five Champions continued to fight the four Ultimates. They weren't doing much damage and it was obvious the other four had more strength, but they weren't going to make this easy for the Mamemon brothers.

"Andromon, are you alright?" Kari asked.

Andromon just nodded.

"It's good to see you again, my friends." His robotic voice still expressed joy in seeing them all, then looked at Davis confused, "Who is this one?"

"Oh, right, this is Davis; he's one of the new Digidestined the Sovereigns have chosen." Kari explained.

"Yeah! I've come to help take down those Dark-creeps...or whatever they are!" Davis grinned.

"Good to hear—we're going to need all the help we can get." Andromon answered.

"Andromon, why were those Digimon attacking you?" Sora asked.

"I helped a few Digimon escape from one of Etemon's prisons. I miscalculated though on our escape plan, we got separated...regardless, they weren't pleased with my aid in the escape of some of their prisoners, and Etemon hasn't ever been a forgiving Digimon. I'm sure you know, he doesn't like it when someone prevents things from going his way."

"That's for sure..." Tai snorted and turned to Andromon, "Do you have enough strength in you to fight? The rest of us, our crests were destroyed, so we've had to re-locate them all again. I still haven't found mine yet, so Agumon can't go Ultimate or Mega. But we've thankfully managed to recover some—but only three—"

"I would be glad to assist you...my friends, you know that I will never turn down a chance to aid the Digidestined." Andromon stood firmly despite some of his injuries.

They all smiled and nodded at him, thankful to at least have Andromon on their side, while he was injured, he was still an Ultimate level, with the other three crests, that would mean they would have four Ultimates against four, plus the two Champions as well. The Mamemon brothers weren't going to win this one.

Tai turned to Izzy, Sora and Kari, "So—why don't you guys show the Mamemon brothers some of the Digidestined true power, whad'ya say?"

"One step ahead of you, Tai." Izzy grinned pulling out his crest, as he wrapped his fingers around his crest.

Kari and Sora did the same, the crests all began to glow, and the digivices changed to the same color as the crests, they vibrated in the hands of the three as they resonated with the power of Knowledge, Love, and Light.

"Birdramon digivolve to…Garudamon!"

"Kabuterimon digivolve to…MegaKabuterimon!"

"Gatomon digivolve to…Angewomon!"

The three small Mamemon backed away, BigMamemon's jaw just dropped, "They...duh-um...digivolved!"

"We can see that you big idiot!" One of the Mamemon snapped at BigMamemon, "This is definitely not good."

Greymon and ExVeemon appeared next to the three newly digivolved Ultimates, Andromon also joined in and glared down at the four evil Digimon. They had cowered away; they all knew this battle definitely was not tipped in their favor. Two Champions, an android Digimon, one angel Digimon, and two giant Digimon_._

They tried fighting them all but it was obvious that this was not in their favor. In their desperation, all of their attacks either missed or just weren't strong enough, meanwhile the humans' Digimon either dodged each of the attacks easily, or they would take it full force and only emerge with just maybe a scratch.

They then tried other tactics, attacking the human children, which brought out with disastrous results. They only succeeded in making their foes even angrier because they dared to try and harm the human children these Digimon were bent on protecting.

One of the Mamemon persisted though, he aimed his bomb attack at Kari, but Davis grabbed the girl and forced her down. ExVeemon appeared in front of the two, grabbed the bomb and threw it back at the Mamemon, it exploded in his face and the blast sent him flying backwards before he crashed back into the dirt.

His attempt to attack Kari proved to make matters worse for himself. It only succeeded in making both Tai and Davis very angry. They ordered their Digimon to attack the Mamemon. He was also now on the bad side of Angewomon.

Angewomon fired one of her Celestial Arrow attacks, he dodged it just barely, only to be kicked by ExVeemon, like the Mamemon was a soccer ball. He was flying directly at Greymon who then slashed at the Digimon with his claw, he flew backwards and crashed into the ground. ExVeemon and Greymon didn't do that much damage...but they still managed to give him a couple of scratches and bruises.

"You have once again shown your true colors, Digimon. You help the evil Digimon of this world oppress and hurt others, it was easier when they were weaker than you weren't they? You face a foe far stronger, and you switch to your dirty tactics, proving that you truly are just weak and cowardly Digimon. You can't fight us, so you seek to harm those you can in response. This will not be allowed to go on any longer. Mamemon brothers...it is time you faced your fate, and accept punishment for your misdeeds. Retribution will be made." Angewomon's heavenly voice boomed with wrath that struck these Digimon to the core.

There was no other way out of this for them, and Tai was willing to bet, just from their expressions alone, that they knew it. They tried to turn tail and run for it, in hopes of escaping.

The six Digimon weren't about to let them go though—not after everything they had done to them. They all readied their attacks. Angewomon, MegaKabuterimon and Garudamon aimed for the three Mamemon. The injured Andromon, ExVeemon and Greymon all aimed their attacks at the BigMamemon.

"Nova Blast!"

"X-Laser!"

"Gatling Missiles!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

The four evil Digimon disintegrated after the barrage of attacks. The group all cheered in response: the fight was over.

Davis turned to Sora, Izzy and Kari...and gushed to them about how cool their Ultimate Digimon looked. Tai shook hands with Andromon and thanked him for his help.

The five Digimon all approached their human partners. Tai gave Greymon a big thumbs up, Sora hugged Garudamon's leg, Izzy did the same with MegaKabuterimon...congratulating them on digivolving again. Meanwhile, the Digimon all expressed their happiness on the kids beings safe and the fact that they could digivolve into Ultimates again.

Kari jumped into Angewomon's arms and gave her a big hug. Angewomon laughed and smiled down at her preteen partner before she expressed her relief that Kari did not get hurt and the two thanked ExVeemon and Davis for protecting her earlier.

Davis just laughed in response, being his giddy-goofy self...as usual, whenever he received a compliment from Kari. Davis gave ExVeemon a high-five afterwards and told the blue winged Digimon how awesome he had been in the fight. ExVeemon was as giddy as his human partner was when he received this compliment.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to them, Phantomon had observed them this whole time; he called over his Bakemon followers immediately.<p>

"What is the situation Master Phantomon?" One of the other Bakemon had spoken up this time.

"This is quite troubling...it would seem three of the five children have somehow re-obtained their crest powers again, and their Digimon digivolved...those powers that were supposed to be destroyed. The last of the Mamemon brothers have been wiped out."

"Are you serious? How is that possible?" The Bakemon to Phantomon's left shouted.

"I'm not sure...I've got a feeling the Sovereigns and that Gennai fellow—are somehow behind this. You there—" he pointed to the Bakemon to his left, "Go back and report this to Etemon. The Digidestined are definitely alive and somehow they are getting back the powers that should have been destroyed!"

"On it, Sir!" The Bakemon vanished.

"And you—" He pointed to the Bakemon in the center of the group, "I want you to alert the rest of my colleagues. Tell them to meet me at Net Fortress, also alert the Poltergeist Division troops, tell them they are to stand by and await my orders at Net Fortress. I have something planned but I need them all there, if they have any questions, tell them I will explain once I get there." The Bakemon nodded and vanished immediately.

"You—" Phantomon pointed to the Bakemon to the right, "Gather the rest of the Grave Division troops, I want them to survey the area to see where the other children and their Digimon are hiding...tell them to get on it immediately."

The third Bakemon he ordered did as he was told and vanished. The three Bakemon that remained all looked at each other, finally one of them spoke up.

"Master...what is it as you have planned?"

"You see, I noticed that only three of these five Digimon belonging to the children, can digivolve to Ultimate. Those two boys right there," He pointed to the two goggle-headed boys, "It would seem that their Digimon can't do so. Now is a good of time as ever to take advantage of this situation. The others are going to be a problem for us. So, all we need to do is grab a little bait in order to set our trap."

Phantomon chuckled darkly and motioned for the Bakemon to follow, the four vanishing into the air.

* * *

><p>Greymon de-digivolved back into Agumon and Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon likewise de-digivolved back into their Rookie states. Angewomon de-digivolved back into Gatomon and jumped into Kari's arms.<p>

When ExVeemon de-digivolved back into his Rookie state, Veemon ran up to Davis, the preteen smiling at his Digimon. Davis pulled out his tag, the two holding onto each other, as they both wondered what Veemon's Ultimate form would be like. Davis assured Veemon that it was going to be pretty awesome, naturally, his Digimon agreed with him.

Andromon was in deep conversation with Tai and Izzy, as he explained to the two what exactly had happened from the time the Digidestined left two years ago in human world time until their return.

Apparently the Dark Ones had only begun their attack in recent years in the Digital World, but in a few short years, they had completely taken over. Izzy noted that the time difference explained a lot, such as why they had only started to notice the effects in the human world in recent days. He told Andromon this and the Digimon asked Izzy some more questions about the time difference, connection and balance between the Human World and the Digital World, Izzy of course explained in the best way he could about everything he had so far come to know through his own observations.

Tai, Kari and Sora just laughed quietly to each other as Izzy prattled on.

Davis's eyes glazed over in boredom, so he decided to daydream about being back home and playing soccer with all his new Digidestined friends. He could picture every single one of the kids perfectly and see them all having a blast, running around the green grass with the sun shining down on them. Davis then saw himself scoring a winning goal, everybody celebrating. The reward kiss from Kari came to mind, his cheeks turning pink. In the vision, the group then all went out to eat in celebration, it was perfect- he mentally noted he should suggest to Tai that they do something like this when they return, but then gasped to himself.

Davis realized that this whole idea sounded awfully familiar. Then it all came back to him, his dream last night. He then remembered everything—the good stuff, everyone fading away and then everything turning all dark and creepy...and that creepy feeling...Davis repressed the urge to shiver at the memory.

He vaguely wondered if he should inform Tai or Kari about the dream, leaving out the other stuff of course. His thoughts were interrupted when a white, ghostly Digimon emerged from the ground, startling everyone.

Tai and the gang glared at the Bakemon. Davis muttered quietly that he had seen that Digimon before; memories of two years ago surfaced, of when the Bakemon attacked his home and captured his family, when it brought them to that TV Station with other kids and their families.

His family was so scared, he could remember clearly his mother and father had tried to put on a brave face for him and Jun, but even though he was only nine at the time, he could tell his parents were terrified, but they still tried to put on a brave face for their children.

Jun's screams from when the ghost Digimon took their parents away from them echoed in his mind. Davis was felt himself now start to become really, _really _mad. Veemon noticed Davis had zoned out, not really paying attention. Veemon shook his legs to get the boys attention. Davis had just recalled a battle between a giant black dinosaur and a flower-fairy looking Digimon, before snapping back to reality.

"Sorry about that, my head was somewhere else." Davis reassured to the blue Digimon.

But he went back to glaring at that ghost Digimon...that Bakemon.

"What is it that you want?" Tai questioned the Bakemon who just chuckled in response.

"Hey! Did you attack the real world two years ago? Were you part of that group of Bakemon that worked for that Myotismon creep—kidnapped those families, separating the kids from their parents?" Davis questioned, the whole group looked at Davis in confusion from his outburst. Kari, Izzy, Tai and Sora instantly realized Davis was talking about the Myotismon attack.

* * *

><p><em>"I get it...Myotismon's goons must of grabbed Davis's family like they did with the others, and Mimi's family and me. So he was there around the same time we were, what a small world…then again, we're all connected through the Highton View Terrace incident. Ken, Yolei and Cody must also be connected through a Digimon related incident too...just like us."<em> Sora thought.

"Myotismon? Sure I've heard of some of my Bakemon brethren who went to the Real World to help with that failed take over...but I've never been to the real world or even met this Myotismon kid." The Bakemon answered.

"It couldn't have been them; any Digimon that dies in the Real World can't be reborn like they do here in the Digital World." Tentomon explained.

Gatomon looked down in sadness, Kari frowned as she noticed this, obviously Gatomon thought about her old friend, Wizardmon, who died to protect her and Kari. Sora watched the two and felt sympathy cling onto her heart.

Kari's expression turned sad as well, but she felt a strong and gentle hand place itself on her shoulder. She looked up and saw her brother who gave her and Gatomon a sad but comforting smile, the two gave Tai a small nod. They then turned all their attention on the Bakemon in front of them.

"You still haven't answered us, what is it you want?" Sora demanded.

"What I want?" Bakemon chuckled.

"Do you have candy corn stuck in your ears, you Halloween reject or are you just deaf? Answer our question!" Tai growled in annoyance at the thing.

"Well let's see…what I want? Oh, keep your eyes on me as I do a trick and I promise to tell you after it's done!" The Bakemon chuckled.

Tai and the others got themselves in a defensive stance, as they readied themselves to whatever the Bakemon was up to. The ghost just made faces and randomly changed its shape into a humanish looking appearance that Sora recognized she and Joe had seen them do before when they were all separated by Devimon after their first encounter with him. The group was getting very irritated by the Bakemon and his so-called _"tricks"_.

"Enough of your dumb games! We've all sat quietly and watched your tricks now you better tell us what you're after!" Biyomon shouted.

"I'm sorry, but you lose the game, never listen to a ghost's tricks, taking your eyes off of what's really important was a big mistake!" The Bakemon laughed.

Just when Tai was about to demand what he meant by that the group heard the sound of Davis and Veemon's shouting. They turned around and saw two Bakemon grabbing Davis. Veemon went to attack, but the third Bakemon that had distracted the group appeared in front of Veemon and knocked him back down.

Agumon ran up to Veemon and helped him back up, both growled up at the Bakemon. Tai grit his teeth as he glared daggers at the Bakemon. Sora and Kari's expressions held a mix between anger and worry. Izzy likewise also glared at the underhanded tricksters.

"You let him go you dirty cowards!" Veemon growled.

Andromon moved to attack the Bakemon, but the Bakemon just floated into the air, pulled up Davis with them as they laughed down at the group. Kari then looked down at Gatomon who was very aggravated by the pests who had used one of their teammates as a meat shield basically.

"Let me go you stupid freaks! You're going to be sorry for messing with us, you hear?" Davis shouted at the Bakemon, who just laughed in response, "Don't say I didn't warn you when you're all just a pile of Digi-ashes!"

"I only wish we had a stereo of some sort with us." Sora lamented.

Tai looked at her confused, but then Sora explained to Tai the chant that Joe taught her and how it weakens the Bakemon. If they were closer it could of possibly worked, but they were too high up in the sky for it to be that effective, and the last time they used it on a huge group of them at that convention center, they had a stereo to project the sound, not to mention a huge group of people to counter the huge group of Myotismon's little brigade of Bakemon flunkies.

There were only three, but they were too high up for the chant to work, even if they did chant, the winds were howling all around them. They had to be able to hear the chant in order for it to work, Sora only wished she remembered about the chant sooner then maybe Davis wouldn't be high up in the sky with a bunch of ghosts right now.

"Hey, don't worry about it. That can always be our backup plan if they decide on coming on back down. Besides, they are just three Champion Digimon. And we got four Ultimates on our side not to mention Veemon and Agumon. They're stupid to even think they can take us on." Tai reassured her.

"Right..." Sora nodded, but then thought to herself, _"Then why do I have a bad feeling about all this?"_

* * *

><p>"It's time we stop playing Mrs. nice girl and kitty cat, and take the gloves off, Kari. I've had it with these bozos and their tricks, its time they learn we're not people they can mess around with!" Gatomon hissed.<p>

Kari's Digimon was obviously annoyed with these Champion ghosts that had been toying with them. She silently agreed with a nod, her crest glowed once more.

"Gatomon digivolve to…Angewomon!"

Davis gave them all a smug grin when he caught sight of Angewomon, Tai himself couldn't help feel a bit better about the whole thing too. Kari wished she could feel as confident. But she wouldn't let such negative thoughts cloud her judgement.

"See Sora, everything is going to be fine." Tai smirked.

"Y-Yeah..." Sora said hesitantly._  
><em>

"What gives Sora?" Tai quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know...something about all this doesn't feel right." Sora explained.

That made Kari nervous...because she was getting a really bad feeling too. Something in her heart told her that they would fail. Something in her being just somehow knew...that Davis would be out of their reach. The more she thought about it...for some reason...she envisioned dark clouds surrounding her friend, before swallowing him away.

And there wasn't a thing they would be able to do about it...she shook her head. She zoned out again...but whatever that was, she couldn't let herself focus on that, they all had to focus on getting Davis back.

"Angewomon, be careful! Don't let them get the chance to use Davis as a shield against you!" Kari exclaimed.

"Don't worry Kari; I don't plan on allowing that." Angewomon stated, then flew up directly at the same level, high in the sky, as the Bakemon.

* * *

><p>"Kari sent Angewomon up here just to save me! Ha! Take that, Jun! I told ya she liked me!" Davis snickered under his breath.<p>

The Bakemon backed away slightly, they still hung tightly onto the auburn-haired preteen.

"I wouldn't attack if I were you, Miss Angel...if we get destroyed, the kid takes a one way fall back to the ground, and you don't want that do ya?" One of the Bakemon sneered.

"And what are these wings for on my back? Besides, we have three other Digimon down there that can turn into flying Digimon. Even if somehow I can't save him, what makes you think any one of them won't? If you surrender now and hand the boy back over, we just might let you go on your merry way." Angewomon warned them, and readied her Celestial Arrow attack.

Davis gave them the _"told ya so"_ expression and stuck his tongue out at one of the Bakemon. The Bakemon would not back down though. The fact they looked so cocky even when facing an Ultimate Holy Digimon...it honestly worried Angewomon.

_"Why are they so confident they'll get away from this unscathed...what are they up to?"_ She wondered.

"Angewomon, look out! Behind you!" Davis shouted.

Angewomon turned around and saw a large sickle that swung to slice her in two. She flew out of the way of the attack, she frowned at the Phantomon that attacked her. She then aimed her weapon at the Phantomon who just chuckled.

"Just shoot him Angewomon! You got a clear shot of him!" Davis exclaimed.

"Oh I don't think you want to be doing that." Phantomon pressed the blade of his sickle against Davis's neck. The edge of the blade then started to glow red and everyone froze, Angewomon now hesitating to fire her weapon. "I am very certain your arrow could kill me, however...are you certain that you can kill me before this boy loses his head?"

Angewomon grit her teeth, lowered her arms and her weapon vanished, Phantomon chuckled in response.

"That's a good girl."

He and his Bakemon started to float lower, closer to the ground, so that way the Digidestined probably could hear whatever he was going to blackmail them all with. Angewomon flew down their immediately, landed next to Kari, if they were willing to use Davis as a hostage, she wouldn't put it past them to try anything else.

She was not going to let them get any of their disgusting hands on Kari. Andromon must of felt the same regarding all of them, as he stood in front of the children too, right next to her.

* * *

><p>"Now listen up, Digidestined...this is very important, you have the chance to let this boy live to see adulthood. But..."<p>

He shifted the glowing blade that was fixed against Davis's neck, it was pressed even harder, but was careful to not draw any blood...yet. The whole group froze, angry and scared for Davis...not really sure what action to take.

"Should you ignore our terms...well it won't be good for this goggle-head here."

"What are your terms?" Tai growled darkly.

"Simple…come meet me at the floating island called Net Fortress if you want to see your friend still breathing. And no extra help, as no assistance from other Digimon," He pointed to Andromon then turned his attention the group, in particularly to the human adolescents, "Just the Digidestined and their Digimon only are invited." He chuckled coldly, "Oh, and my comrades and I would love to hear how you got your powers to digivolve again back. We can all have a nice long chat there and you can tell us all about it. Don't worry, I'll have a messenger stop by later to give you the location of our little get-together. Now don't go getting any funny ideas, I assure fate will not be kind to this boy for whatever mistakes you foolishly make."

As Phantomon and the Bakemon slowly faded from view, along with Davis, the young goggle-headed boy shouted out to the group before he vanished with the ghost Digimon, "Don't listen to them guys! They're not going to let us live—it's probably just another trick! Don't give in to th—!"

Davis vanished then vanished completely along with Phantomon and the Bakemon.

"Davis!" Veemon dropped to the ground as he punched the dirt.

The Digimon was shaken up, and felt guilty...no doubt because their Digimon were created to protect them, and Veemon probably felt like a failure. He couldn't help but feel bad for the blue guy. Kari dropped to her knees, rubbing the back of the blue Rookie Digimon in hopes of comforting him. Angewomon de-digivolved back to Gatomon, and glared at the spot where the ghost Digimon once were.

Tai couldn't take it anymore. He was holding back his anger, but he had it. Tai threw his bag on the ground in anger, he glared down at it. He could sympathize with how he guessed Veemon was feeling. Tai was supposed to be the leader, everyone depended on him. First the whole group gets exasperated, and now this. He just sat by and one of his teammates got kidnapped, there wasn't a blasted thing he could do about it.

"This is just great! They got us right where they want us! Stupid!" Tai barked.

"Tai, what are we going to do?" Sora asked, "How are we going to even find this fortress?"

Tai felt himself sigh, he needed to calm down. He wouldn't be a very helpful leader if he focused on his temper. He could worry about that later, he was the leader, it was his job to be in control, lead and protect his team. They were going to retrieve Davis, and they would make Phantomon and them sorry for using one of their own as a hostage...cowards.

"With this…" Izzy held up his digivice, to answer Sora's question, "Davis should still have it, so we should be able to track them down. But first we should contact Gennai, there is obviously a reason they picked us to meet them on what is clearly their home turf. They're going to use that as an advantage, if we're going to willingly walk into this trap, we need to find out whatever we can."

"Well hurry up and message Gennai, Izzy…Davis might not last that long if he mouths off to those guys and somehow I don't think they're the type that would hesitate to kill anything that annoys them." Tai huffed.

Tai wasn't as mad as he was earlier...but he was still...a bit tiffed. Plus concerned, Davis wasn't exactly known for being tactful, and there were only a couple of people in the group that he could think of that was a terrible idea to have those people be held captive...if only for the fact that those people would mouth of their captors. Davis was most definitely one of them.

"Tai, you don't think that'd really happen, do you? I mean, we're going to stop them before they hurt Davis...won't we?" Kari looked up at her brother.

Tai could tell just by the look in her eyes, Kari was very concerned for her friend's well-being. Tai sighed but gave his sister reassuring smile.

"Yeah...don't worry, we'll save him before they get the chance to do anything, you can count on that, Kari."

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Boo to me…I ended on a cliffhanger. *dodges bricks* Hey now! If you want the next chapter pelting me with bricks isn't such a good idea! DX**

**Ahem…so just a future f.y.i., my next updates won't be as frequent as they have been before. You'll notice this chapter didn't come sooner than usual…well its getting close to crutch time. I basically have one month of school left here at college. I get off on break for the fall. So late July when I'm finally done, it be me back home and just working, so be expecting quicker updates then :D But for now, please be patient with me. **

**Hooray for Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon and Angewomon! (especially Angewomon, cause she's uber awesome!)**

**Poor Davis gets captured :( But don't worry; he'll make it out okay. They're gonna save him of course! :D**

**Also for those who don't remember, Andromon was a long time friend of the Digidestined, he first appeared in Digimon Adventure, I figured it be great to bring him back, since he like Leomon, are one of those very loyal allies to the kids. **

**As you can see, this Phantomon and his Bakemon are not the same as the ones that fought in the Real World, but then again, the chapter already explained it, so I won't go on.**

**As for when Davis and Cody will get their crests? As well as T.K., Tai and Matt? Well…don't worry…all good things come to those who wait ;D **

**More action and danger ahead! And when I get to it, boy will you guys be in for some treats! :D**

**Please leave a review; I look forward to hearing your thoughts. But flames are still not allowed, all flames will get the same fate as Piedmon…sucked into a Gate of Destiny. (though that is a cool if horrible way to go)**

**Also I was going to upload this earlier…but I went and saw the third Transformers movie, Dark Of The Moon. A;LDKFJA;SDLFKJAD;KLJASD;LKFJA;LSDFKJ;SLDKFJ HOLY CRAP IT WAS AWESOME! 8D ahem….**

**See you all again next time, ta-ta for now! :) **


	14. Plan and Regroup

**Chapter 14: Plan and Regroup  
><strong>

**_Re-edit Note: (May 17, 2013)_ ****_I only have chpt. 15 left to go to get my re-edits all done (YEAH ALMOST FINISHED)_**

**_Also there are A LOT of Digimon appearing in this chapter! Like seriously, A LOT, if you have no idea who the Digimon is, then I recommend you visit the Digimon Wikia site and or google image the Digimon's name...because we'd be here all week if I had to describe every single dang Digimon. I'm not kidding, there are a LOT of creatures in here! (but the show is called Digimon...so yeah...anyways, enjoy the chapter!)_**

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>**_

"Ugh…I feel like I've been hit by a truck!" Davis groaned, wincing at the migraine that plagued his head.

He noticed the large, towering fortress behind him. It looked pretty old, but from what Davis could tell it was sturdy, incredibly huge, and from the look of it—it had probably been very well taken care of. Davis was positive that this was the _Net Fortress _place Phantomon had talked about with the others, before he blacked out.

"_Speaking of which…where is that creep?_"

There wasn't a soul around, so Davis wandered further from the large building before stopping dead in his tracks, his Adam's apple twitching as he gulped. He stood still at the edge of the stone platform, his eyes bearing down on the hundreds—maybe even thousands—of feet between him and the ground.

"I'm in the sky? Holy crap, I can barely see the ground!" As he realized this, his body had also become more aware of the chill and he shivered a bit, "Geez, where's a jacket when ya need one?"

"Ah, awake already I see..."

Davis whipped his head around to see none other than Phantomon; if looks could kill—then Davis would have murdered the phantom Digimon with his glare alone. He pumped both of his fists up as Phantomon chuckled.

"I'd be very careful if I were you, child...after all, it's a long way down from here." Phantomon pointed his sickle at the space behind Davis.

Davis growled, gritting his teeth and maintained his defensive stance, Phantomon merely finding himself highly amused by the preteen.

"So, tell me Phantomon, is there any particular reason why I'm staring at this little runt—what is this thing anyway?" Davis took notice of a feminine-looking Devimon that appeared next to Phantomon.

"Ah, LadyDevimon, so glad you could join us, this right here is a human child." Phantomon turned to the female devil Digimon.

"A human? Quite the scrawny little thing...no claws, no fangs, no horns, not even wings or talons?" She observed Davis and continued in a mocking tone, "And the poor boy is shivering, nothing to keep him warm on his anatomy...not very impressive looking creatures, these humans. How in the world do humans even survive? Especially stringy ones like this small fry."

"Who's stringy? I got muscle right here, Lady! You just can't see it yet cuz I'm still growing!" Davis pointed to his left arm as he tried to flex and glared at the female Digimon.

"Well, aren't you an amusing little human..." She snorted with mild amusement.

"Are the others here?" Phantomon asked.

"Yes, we've all assembled, and I've noticed that your goons are crawling all over the skies and forest. What are you looking for, come now, Phantomon, I know you have a plan?" LadyDevimon giggled.

"You see...the Digidestined have returned. Not only that it seems the Sovereigns—according to what I've heard in the reports from Etemon yesterday- that there are four other children with them- these are possibly the new Digidestined that they called." Phantomon explained.

"The Digidestined...here? And you're telling me that this scrawny boy is one of them?" LadyDevimon questioned as Davis screamed in annoyance in the background that he was _"not scrawny"_ to the two Digimon who had ignored his protest.

"Yes, some of them have been getting the powers to make their Digimon digivolve past Ultimate again from what I've witnessed. It would seem that the Mamemon brothers managed to split the group of twelve children up, but they were defeated by these children. This boy's Digimon can't digivolve to Ultimate yet, so I figured he'd be the perfect bait to lure in his four friends and their Digimon. We can eliminate them all, while the rest look for the other seven children who are hidden somewhere within the woods below." Phantomon explained.

"I see, you want to pick them off bit by bit and lower the threat." LadyDevimon chuckled.

"Indeed, so while my Grave Division troops survey the forest in search of the other children...I have the Poltergeist Division standing by in the skies surrounding our fortress." Phantomon pointed off in the distance where one could see a huge group of Bakemon and Soulmon patrolling the skies around them.

"You certainly are being extra careful today, what on Earth for?" A SkullMeramon approached the two other Digimon.

"Well, I _invited_ the other children to come and retrieve their little friend." Phantomon began to explain to the nine foot, metal faced-chained Digimon. In the background, Davis protested, insisting that he wasn't _"little"_ but they continued to ignore the kid.

Phantomon continued, "However, Etemon gave orders to everyone to make certain that these children are out of our hair permanently—that is our top priority. The only way to reach Net Fortress is through the skies, so the children will probably meet a little trouble getting here, an early _work out_ before we _entertain _them."

"My, my, how dishonorable of you, Phantomon." LadyDevimon sang in delight.

"So this runt is one of them...?" SkullMeramon towered over Davis, who in turn just glared at the large metal-faced, biker-looking Digimon.

"Yeah, I'm one of them! I'm no runt, _you hear?!_ I'm a Digidestined! You'll be sorry when my friends get here! We're gonna kick your sorry butts and grind you into digi-dust!" Davis boasted without a hint of fear to the Digimon's face.

"Haven't you heard of what happens to foolish children who taunt the big bad monster?" SkullMeramon sneered down at the preteen, "It gobbles them up for breakfast, using their scrawny bones as a toothpick."

Davis just snorted and fired right back at the tall humanoid beast, "Did you hear what happens to the _villains_ in the battle of good vs. evil? I'll give you a hint, the heroes, we _always _win!"

SkullMeramon growled but Davis continued, "I heard all the stories from the original Digidestined. All sorts of you evil monsters have appeared numerous times and every time this happened, they defeated you. These so called _Dark Ones _must be real idiots, because who do they bring back...the same losers that can't even defeat a group of kids. Since we got here, every one of you lame toadies tried to take a shot at us, and still lost."

"_You dare_ to mock our _great _masters?" SkullMeramon's tone got low and dark.

Davis didn't budge for a second at the menacing giant, "How _great _can they honestly be? They bring back a bunch of _losers_ to enslave innocent Digimon, getting _all of you_ to do their dirty work while they _hide away_ like the _cowards!_"

"Are masters are not cowards, you impudent child!" LadyDevimon hissed.

"Could have fooled me! They're clearly _afraid_ of the Digidestined, from what I've been told...they went to a lot of trouble to make certain that just a group eight kids couldn't make it back here and destroyed their powers to digivolve—which obviously_ failed!_ And these..._Dark Ones_" Davis made air quotes as he said the name of the group of the mysterious new villains while his voice deadpanned to emphasize how unimpressed he was, "They seem to really want us out of the picture with you guys going to such trouble to do us in! Why not come and destroy us themselves?"

Davis didn't back down one bit, even as the three Digimon gave him murderous glares during his rant to the evil Digimon, "And for that matter, why is this Etemon making all of his little henchmen do this for him? I'll tell you why? He's _scared_ to get _destroyed again_—by us Digidestined, just like your _great_ masters and _just like you!_ You're all afraid of us! You guys flat out _suck_...you're cowards and you _know it!_"

SkullMeramon couldn't take anymore of Davis's insults and grabbed the boy by his throat as he pulled Davis off the ground; the young man kicked his legs as he dangled in the angry Ultimate level's grasp.

"Do you not realize how easily I could snap your little neck in two without any effort? You will pay for your disrespect, little boy!" SkullMeramon roared.

"SkullMeramon, calm yourself. You aren't honestly letting the words of a little urchin actually _get_ to you, are you?" Phantomon ordered his subordinate, "Put the whelp down, we need him alive...for now."

"Why do we need this brat still alive, aren't we just going to snuff him and his little Digidestined friends out _anyway_?" SkullMeramon growled, "After what he said about our masters—!"

"Relax, my friend; I said we need him alive _for now..._as vexing as the boy is, we'll have to bear it. He still has some use in at least being our insurance, in case things don't go according to plan. If it all does go as planned—then we can get rid of him, but for now-we'll let him live for the time being. He is after all, our bait…the only thing that matters to us now is making certain we win and get rid of those kids."

"Fine!"

SkullMeramon tossed Davis to the ground, the Digimon glared down at the adolescent, who likewise, glared back up at the hulking creature.

"Tekkamon! Thundermon!" Phantomon called out, Davis looked over and saw two small ball-shaped Digimon. The one called Tekkamon had no legs and was a purple machine-like Digimon that reminded Davis of that Giromon jerk they had run into before, however, instead of a chainsaw, this Digimon carried a sword. The other Digimon was smaller—the one called Thundermon. He literally looked like a bowling ball, with arms and legs and a lightning bolt symbol attached to his forehead.

"Please take our guest to where he will be staying while we wait for his friends to come and pick him back up." Phantomon chuckled.

* * *

><p>"Hey! Let go of me!" The two Digimon grabbed Davis and dragged him off. As that happened, a dark hole appeared out of thin air right in front of the three Ultimate Digimon.<p>

"So you've all showed up...about time." LadyDevimon rolled her eyes.

There were four RedVegiemon in the front; behind them were a Golemon and a DarkLizardmon. All six were Champion level. Behind them, four Ultimate Digimon…one was a large bull-like Digimon with an arm canon, Minotarumon. The Digimon next to it was a grey, giant beetle Digimon, Okuwamon. Behind it was a large, black and purple bird-winged Digimon- it was about the size of a Birdramon. This Digimon was called Crowmon. Lastly, sitting on top of the Crowmon's head was a grey colored Devimon with a golden, faceless mask, red wings and white hair…he was called NeoDevimon.

"Don't give us your lip, sister—we have enough of our own. We were just recently coming back from a mission tasked to us by the great Dark Ones themselves. They relieved us of our duties so we could come and aid you with your _pest control _problem." NeoDevimon spoke up.

"Just what_ sort_ of mission?" She asked, appalled that her brother's unit actually got called by the great masters themselves to do a task for them.

"We split up and searched across the region for the location of the remaining Crests of the Digidestined, of course, we have no idea how many Crests have been retrieved by the chosen children yet...but—"

LadyDevimon, impatient, interrupted him, "So, did you find any? And if so please tell me you saved us the trouble and destroyed them?"

"We do believe that we have located one, however, sorry to disappoint you, sister. When the crests are in their sleeping state they cannot be destroyed or removed. They are protected by some sort of strange power. They can only be removed by the tag belonging to a Digidestined which is meant for their chosen crest…and they can only be destroyed when it has been removed from its dormant state…in other words, when one of the Digidestined comes to claim it." NeoDevimon explained.

"That figures...those troublesome Sovereigns really did think this through...how irritating. It really ticks me off" She sneered.

"I'm glad you could all join us, my comrades. Four of the Digidestined should be arriving any day now at our fortress…I'm certain they wouldn't let the long distance slow them down when it comes to aiding their friend," Phantomon mused darkly, "Three of the four youths' Digimon can digivolve to Ultimate. We'll be dealing with nothing more than a Veemon that cannot digivolve without his human, a Greymon, a Garudamon, a MegaKabuterimon, and an Angewomon. So I won't be needing all of you just yet, unless things don't work out the way we want it too."

"Master Phantomon, what are your orders for now?" DarkLizardmon asked.

"You, RedVegiemon brothers," Phantomon pointed, "I want all four of you to patrol the inside of the fortress. However, before you do that-one of you go down and get Tekkamon, tell him to come up here to see me, and tell Thundermon to keep watch of our prisoner."

The RedVegiemon left, and Phantomon turned his attention on DarkLizardmon and Golemon, "Golemon I want you to keep guard of the South gate- DarkLizardmon you watch over the front gate."

The two left and Tekkamon reappeared, which left the eight Ultimate-level Digimon alone. Phantomon pointed to Okuwamon, Crowmon and Tekkamon before turning his attention to the rest of the group, "Okuwamon, I want you to stand guard on the south tower roof, Crowmon, you stand guard on the North tower roof. Tekkamon you stand guard on top of the central tower roof. The rest of you come with me and we'll wait in the great hall."

* * *

><p>Tai and the others hadn't left the spot since the evil Digimon had taken Davis away. Kari and Gatomon helped take care of the injured Andromon, while Veemon paced back and forth, very nervous and very worried...Tai, Izzy and Sora continued to discuss what action to take, but just then one of the Bakemon appeared before them again.<p>

"Great, you again, what is it now?" Tai growled.

"Now is that any way to behave? I came to help, after all, you guys probably don't even know where Net Fortress is, do you?" The Bakemon teased.

"So you're the flunkie that Phantomon sent to tell us where to meet you guys then?" Tai growled.

Tai relaxed a bit as he noticed Izzy and Sora giving him concerned looks. Tai was still ticked, but he knew he had to keep his cool if they wanted to help their newcomer teammate.

"Yes, it probably wouldn't show up on any map, after all, the fortress _is _a moving one. It's never in the same place." The Bakemon boasted.

Izzy and Sora both nodded and Izzy turned his computer around, so everyone could see the map of the forest as Sora spoke up, "Alright, just show us where it is now, and we'll be there, you can count on that."

The Bakemon then pointed to the center of the screen. Sora, Izzy, and Tai crowded around to see, their Digimon doing the same. Kari, Veemon, and Gatomon followed to see where the Bakemon had pointed at.

"Right there, in the center of the forest, as I'm sure you've been told, it's a floating fortress. So it we'll remain in that position for about a week before our next patrol. My boss says you Digidestined have about four days to get there in time. If you don't, well, I'm sure you're aware. And no extra help! Just you Digidestined and your Digimon." The Bakemon warned before it vanished again.

"Izzy, did Gennai get your message about this?" Kari asked.

"He did, I just got an email back. I'm also marking the point the Bakemon gave to us. We need to go discuss this with Gennai. No doubt it could be a trap, hopefully he might know something about this fortress." Izzy answered.

"That Bakemon said they'd be expecting us within four days...how long will it take us to get to that point to where we are now?" Tentomon asked.

"Hmmm...according to my calculations, three to four days exactly, depending on circumstances. Here we go, opening the email now." Izzy clicked the center mouse-pad on the P.C. Izzy read over the message, studying it intently, then turned back to the group.

"Gennai said that this fortress used to belong to a group of powerful, ancient Digimon that served under the Sovereigns many years ago. However, they tragically lost their lives trying to protect the Digital World against evil Digimon that threatened it during that time. With it out of commission, it's obvious Etemon's goons took over it. Here we go! Gennai sent me the blueprints to the fortress!" Izzy explained.

"That's great Izzy; we can now at least know some of what we're in for!" Tai exclaimed.

"Hold on, don't celebrate yet, Gennai says he requested some old friends of ours to survey the forest the moment he got my email...and apparently, they've been noticing a lot of activity."

"Activity? What do you mean Izzy?" Sora asked.

"There is a group of Digimon hovering in the skies near a giant floating island, my guess is-our fortress…also, there are hordes of Bakemon all over the forest, Gennai says they're probably trying to find the others." Izzy explained.

"I see, they probably hope we'll run into those Digimon, and be forced to fight. Then, by the time we get to the fortress we'll be too tired to fight them and save Davis!" Agumon exclaimed.

"Those rotten Digimon, that's dirty—they never intended to give us a fair chance!" Biyomon growled.

"When you deal with their kind, trust me on this, they _never _play fair, they always look out for making certain we lose and they win." Gatomon hissed.

"I don't care if they aren't going to play fair! All I care about is saving Davis, and that's what I plan on doing!" Veemon shouted.

"Hang on! It looks like Gennai is trying to contact us!" Izzy interrupted, as he clicked on a button that flashed on his computer screen, Gennai soon popped up into view.

"Hello again, friends, this is quite the predicament." Gennai spoke.

"Gennai, thanks for the blueprints and telling us about the other Digimon crawling all over the place. But is there anything else?" Tai asked.

"Indeed, there is a cave nearby and I managed to get in contact with the Digimon hiding there. They said they want to help." Gennai stated.

"But Gennai, those Digimon said if we get any extra help they'll—" Kari began but Genna interrupted her.

"I understand, but they won't come up to the fortress with you, they want to help distract the other Digimon that are in the forest and in the skies surrounding the fortress, that way you'll be in top fighting shape when you get there. You could easily say the Digimon are starting to rebel against Etemon."

Gennai then gave them a wink, and the group all smiled. Izzy then remembered the location the Bakemon gave them, "Oh Gennai, one of Phantomon's subordinates showed up and gave us the location of where the fortress is."

Izzy quickly messaged the image on the map to Gennai, Gennai looked at it and smiled back at Izzy.

"I see, this is fortunate for us."

"Fortunate? What do you mean?" Agumon asked.

"You see, just last night, Matt and T.K. found a small village, called Motimon Village, they were able to contact me, just about fifteen minutes ago in fact, and told me about the Digimon swarming the forest. Also, they told me that T.K.'s tag was glowing, and it was pointed to the sky-towards a floating island. I told them I was going to help them find a way to sneak up there, then of course when I just got your message...I filled in the dots. So Matt and the others are very close to this fortress. I can contact them and let them know of your dilemma."

"Really? That's awesome! We can have back up for this battle! And not only that, it sounds like T.K.'s crest is up there on that fortress!" Tai exclaimed.

"But Tai, what about what those Digimon told us about the extra help..." Sora trailed off, Tai just grinned back, the girl blinked in confusion.

"Remember what that Phantomon said Sora _just the Digidestined and their Digimon._ Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Matt and the others are just Digidestined with Digimon of their own." Tai grinned mischievously and Sora just smiled back, giving him a nod.

"Well, if they're going to play dirty, I don't see why we have to walk in like chumps, they'll be in for a surprise." Gatomon smirked.

"I'll contact Matt and the other three to be on the lookout." Gennai said.

"That's great...but Gennai, tell them not to act yet. We don't know what's up there, and I don't want them to chance it with just the four of them and the rest of us aren't there to back them up. Tell Matt three days, we'll get there, but I want him to meet up with us." Tai explained.

Gennai nodded before he logged off, Izzy turned to Tai, "Do you have a plan, Tai?"

"Not exactly...well sort of, something tells me Phantomon won't be alone there—to _greet _us—I was thinking it'd be nice if we could get Matt and them to sneak in while their attention is on us. They could go in and free Davis. Then they all join us in taking the rest of them out." Tai punched his fist into his other hand, clenching it tightly with a determined expression on his face. He smiled awkwardly and turned to Izzy, "I was hoping you'd help me patch in the rest of those details, and how we can get Matt and the others to sneak in unnoticed, you were always better and formulating stuff like that than I was Izzy."

"Don't worry buddy, I think I already have an idea of what to do." Izzy put his hand on Tai's shoulder.

"Thanks, Izzy, I can always count on ya. Alright guys, let's go meet up with those other Digimon that Gennai talked about and start heading out. Let's get Davis out of there!" Tai said to the group.

"Yeah! We're gonna save Davis!" Veemon exclaimed.

* * *

><p>"Okay, we'll wait in this village then for Tai and the others, can you message that to Izzy?" Matt asked Gennai on screen.<p>

"Will do, you four be careful and stay out of sight though." Gennai answered.

"We will, thanks again Gennai." Matt and Gennai both logged off. Matt then turned to the reddish-brown, robot-looking, Champion Digimon, "Hey thanks again for letting us use your computer to contact Gennai."

The Digimon was called Guardromon. Matt and the others had recently met up with him when they came across a tiny village, filled with nothing but Motimon. He was sort of the guardian of the little In-Training Digimon which inhabited this little village.

"Don't sweat it, I am glad to be of help to the Digidestined." The robot Digimon answered.

"Anyways, I'm going to tell my friends about this, so I guess I'll see ya later." Matt took his leave of the hut the robot lived in.

"If your friends need anything else, don't hesitate to ask." The Guardromon waved goodbye.

"Thanks."

Matt walked up to the hut that was to the back of the village. Inside, were three Motimon, his Digimon—Gabumon, Mimi, T.K., Yolei, their Digimon, and their newest traveling companion, Renamon. They were all eating some freshly picked fruit that the Motimon gave to them, Patamon in particular looked so full, that he might pass out.

"So what did Gennai say we should do?" T.K. asked.

Matt let out a huge sigh, ran his fingers through his blond hair, as he pondered the fix Davis was in, as well as the battle they will have to walk into. Only Mimi and Yolei had crests at the moment. And they didn't know how many Digimon were waiting up there for Tai and the others, and just at what levels these enemies who were waiting up there, were at.

But still, they had to help. It no doubt was going to be a trap. And there was no way he'd leave any of his fellow teammates to hang dry, despite the risk. They'd figure a way out of it, and get Davis back...it's what they do after all.

"What's wrong Matt?" Mimi crinkled her brow in worry.

"Well, it's like this. Tai and the others battled and defeated the rest of those Mamemon-losers, but apparently one of Etemon's other lackeys was hanging around, he snuck up on the gang and grabbed Davis." Matt plopped down on the ground beside Gabumon.

He grabbed one of the fruits, took a bite, it was really sweet, but he didn't really take in the flavor, he was too busy thinking about how they would get Davis out of there. He swallowed the fruit and finished his explanation.

"Well to make a long story short, Davis got kidnapped and is being held hostage." Matt rubbed his temples.

"Oh no, wait…what about his partner...Veemon? Did they take him too?" Palmon asked.

"No, they left Veemon, they just took Davis. According to Gennai, Davis is being held in that same location as your crest, T.K." Matt pointed to the tag around his younger brother's neck.

"I see, that explains the high number Digimon that are swarming all over the place." T.K. looked down at his tag.

"Did Gennai tell you anything else?" Hawkmon asked.

"Yeah, Tai and the others are obviously heading out to save him, but they won't be here for about three days. Tai wants us to wait here and meet up with him—sounds like he and Izzy are cooking up a plan." Matt explained.

"I hope Davis will be alright, he was a lot of fun." Patamon frowned, no doubt thinking of some funny memories of the boy.

"Don't worry, Davis is a strong kid, a bit of an airhead, but strong! I bet he'll be fine." Yolei reassured, then asked, "Right, do Joe, Ken and Cody know about this?"

"I don't think so, Gennai didn't mention anything about it, and it doesn't seem like Joe has been able to be in contact with Gennai or Tai and the others. It looks like it will just be the eight of us helping Davis. And there is no telling what traps they have up there, waiting for Tai and them." Matt shook his head.

"Well it's a good thing we know all about this happening...at the very least, right Mimi?" Palmon perked up.

"That's right, we can now help out the others, I bet Etemon's flunkies wouldn't be expecting on fighting double of what they prepared!" Mimi giggled with a sly smirk.

"Is there anything I can assist you with?" Renamon asked.

She was silent the whole time, Matt almost forgot that she was with them. Renamon was a very quiet Digimon though, she only spoke when she felt it was necessary.

"According to Gennai, they'll hurt Davis if they see other Digimon helping us. But Gennai said a group of Digimon will aid the others by distracting the Digimon that are swarming the forest and fortress. Maybe you can help those Digimon while we're off to rescue Davis." Matt suggested.

She nodded, and then sat down in silence again...she was a...interesting Digimon to say at the least. But she was trustworthy, so Matt was at least thankful she was on their side.

"Anyways, we'll all just have to sit tight until the others meet us here. It would be foolish to act now, when we don't know much about what we're fighting, when Tai, Sora, Izzy, and Kari get here, we'll be able to get the whole story." T.K. stated.

"Well, now that—that's settled, we should probably finish eating and make certain to get good rest the next couple of days, we'll be of no help if we don't make certain that we're in tip top shape." Hawkmon said.

* * *

><p>Tai and the others walked into the dank and rather large cavern which was just a half a mile away from where they had been earlier. The temperature was cool and the air was moist. As they continued on further, they saw a large group of Digimon. One Digimon was familiar to them.<p>

"Unimon!" Sora ran up to the winged unicorn Digimon, and threw her arms around the large creature's neck.

"It is good to see all of you again." Unimon smiled.

They looked around and saw many species of different Digimon. There were three Airdramon in the back of the cavern, below them were two Kiwimon and two Deramon. To their left were five Falcomon and three Peckmon. To their right were five FanBeemon and three Waspmon. In the front, behind Unimon were six Muchomon, two Diatrymon, a Guilmon, and a Gargomon. Andromon ran up to the Guilmon and Gargomon, both of whom looked happy to see him.

"Hey! You're okay!" Gargomon exclaimed.

"It's good to see that you're both okay as well." Andromon nodded.

Tai then realized these must have been the fugitive Digimon Andromon helped escape.

"Is Renamon with you?" Guilmon asked happily.

Andromon frowned, "No, I'm afraid she's not. I was hoping she was with you two."

"Don't worry! Don't worry! Renamon is strong, we'll see her real soon I bet!" Guilmon jumped up and down, Andromon smiled at the red, Rookie, dinosaur Digimon.

"So...Gennai told you about what's happening I assume?" Izzy asked Unimon.

"Yes, we got word from him of everything that is happening. Don't worry, we'll keep the evil Digimon that are patrolling through the woods and the ones stationed in the skies at bay while you all go and retrieve your companion." Unimon nodded.

"Okay, we don't want to do anything just yet. But we'll need to travel in separate groups that way we'll be less easy to spot. Izzy, Sora, Kari, myself, our Digimon, and Veemon will go meet up with Matt in Motimon Village, that about right Izzy?" Tai through his bag over his shoulders.

"Right, Gennai messaged me saying that's the name of the village not too far from where the fortress was, and I have the coordinates to both the fortress and the village already downloaded to my digivice." Izzy put away his lap top in his bag and zipped it back up after he slipped his digivice back into his pocket.

"Right, so the rest of you will need to divide yourselves into small groups, and rendezvous with us just outside of Motimon Village. We'll further discuss our plan there once we meet up with the rest of the gang." Tai turned to the Digimon in the cave, "Andromon, I need you to go with them too. They're going to need your help."

Andromon nodded and left with Guilmon, Gargomon, and Unimon. They watched the Digimon all split up separately into smaller groups, as they left the cave, one by one. The four human adolescents and the five Digimon departed ten minutes after the last group of Digimon had left the cave.

They climbed up a small, rocky hillside, which was a bit too steep for them to walk up it normally. Tai and Agumon climbed up first, followed by Veemon. Izzy and Sora went up next as Biyomon and Tentomon flew up. Gatomon hopped up along each of the rocks with ease, as Kari continued to climb. Tai extended his hand down to help his sister up as soon as she neared the top. Tai then noticed an expression on her sister's face he was quite familiar with…guilt.

"Kari, you okay?" Tai decided to lag behind with his sister as the group trekked on.

"Oh...I...um—" Kari stammered out awkwardly.

"Hey, if something's bothering you, well you know you can tell your big brother anything." Tai gave his younger sister a pat on the back and she smiled up at him sadly, "So, what's bothering ya, Kari?"

"I-it's all my fault...isn't it?" Kari blurted out softly.

Tai blinked at his sister's words, feeling something like déjà-vu, as she said these things. Her expression and even the tone of her voice was nearly identical to the one she had when he left her with Matt so he could go help those that Myotismon had captured, Kari asked Tai if everything that was happening back then had been her entire fault. Kari was always like this. She always felt guilty for things that were never really her fault. The sweet girl couldn't help but feel like she was to blame whenever something unfortunate happened.

"What are you talking about?" Tai frowned.

He hated how his sister would always blame herself for things, because it always reminded himself that he wasn't doing a very good job of being a big brother, well...at least that's how he felt.

"I could of helped save Davis...I mean Angewomon could of done it...but, the only reason she hesitated was because, I didn't tell her to keep trying. When she hesitated when that blade was up to Davis's neck, I said nothing. I just let them take him. I could of told Angewomon to fire her arrow, or use one of her other attacks…something. But I did nothing to help him. He helped me all this time-and the one time I could have helped him…I just stood there frozen and just let them take him away. Davis probably hates me for it." Kari frowned guilty and looked down at the ground with a sullen expression.

"W-what?" Tai almost started to burst out in laughter, but he held it in, because that was the last thing Kari needed at that moment—her older brother laughing at her, "I'm sorry Kari, but you have to be joking me."

Kari faced her brother, she knit her eyebrows in confusion and tilted her head slightly. Her soft, brown eyes bore into her older brother's deeper brown orbs. The smile on her brother's face never faded.

"_Man, she really doesn't see it, just one look at that cute puzzled face of hers and you can tell she's really oblivious to it._" Tai mentally snickered before he put a firm hand on her shoulder. "Now you listen to me, there is no way that guy would hate you. Because I'm pretty sure, he would agree with me that this isn't your fault. Kari, all of us froze like you did. We could have ordered our Digimon to attack too…but the truth is we didn't because we cared about Davis's safety, just like you did. There's nothing wrong with that. So don't feel guilty about something that wasn't your fault- something that was just beyond our control."

She smiled at her brother and gave him a tight hug, "Thanks Tai, I'm sorry for—"

Tai interrupted his sister, hugging her back, "Now don't you dare start apologizing either, okay? Just promise me this, instead of thinking about _what could have been done,_ from now on you'll think about _what I can do_, alright? And don't you start worrying either, we'll all bring Davis back in one piece, won't we?"

"Right, I promise Tai, and we will!" Kari beamed.

"Atta girl, now let's not lag too far behind, we don't want to get separated now, do we?" Tai let go of his sister and trotted on ahead after Sora, Izzy, and the Digimon-Kari followed immediately after.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>-To Be Continued-<span>**_

**Yeah…I know…A LOT OF Digimon (sweatdrop) But again, Digimon wiki is your friend :D**

**Ahem…Guardromon, Guilmon, and Gargomon (as well as you all know-Renamon) appeared in Digimon Tamers.**

**Golemon first appeared in Digimon Adventure 02, he was one of the Control Spire Digimon that Arukenimon created. One of the other Digimon she created (in the episode when Davis and Ken first DNA Digivolved) was Okuwamon.**

**Motimon is the In-training form of Tentomon.**

**The Digimon that are Rookies…Renamon, Guilmon, Falcomon, FanBeemon and Muchomon. The Digimon that are Champions are…Unimon, Gargomon, Bakemon, Soulmon, Waspmon, Kiwimon, Deramon, Guardromon, Airdramon, Peckmon, and Diatrymon. (Andromon of course is Ultimate). And the rest I'm pretty sure I already listed as to whether they are Ultimates or Champions within the chapter.**

**Davis is quite the bold guy…isn't he (sweatdrop) but to be fair, that's what I love about him. He's got quite the backbone and not only is he not afraid to back down, but he doesn't know when to quit it :P (You rock my socks, Davis!)**

**And I had to insert that cute little brother/sister moment at the end, because Tai and Kari are the cutest siblings in anime ever! :D**

**I know this chapter wasn't very action-packed and all, and was definitely more on the planning and setting things up, but trust me, it's worth it. You guys will be in for quite the treat, I'm VERY excited about writing the next battle! :)**

**Sorry for me taking so long to update, again I had school, and boy was it rough, but I'm on break for the next couple of months (unless if I get into one of those vet schools that I have been applying for-but I don't know when I'll be starting if I get into either)…but for now, you guys have me for the rest of the year! Minus next week…because I'll be on vacation in Hawaii! ;P  
><strong>

**ALOHA MY READERS! And please don't forget to review :D**

**Also many thanks to my beta editor LithiumRukia-for helping me out :) **


	15. Rescue On It's Way

**Chapter 15: Rescue On It's Way  
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**_Re-Edit Note: (May 18, 2013)_ YES FINALLY DONE WITH ALL THESE RE-EDITS! FIRST 15 CHAPTERS HAVE BEEN RE-EDITED AND NOW EVERYTHING IS UP TO AWESOME STANDARD! (maniacal laughter)...ahem...enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

"Huh...what's that?" Davis whispered to himself. He had just started to realize that something had been vibrating in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and the vibrating object turned out to be his tag. "_My crest! It must be nearby!_"

Davis shot up and began to pace around before grabbing the bars to the dungeon he had been thrown into a few hours prior. Thundermon became very annoyed with their guest.

"Boy, just sit still, there isn't anyway you are getting out, so why don't you just quietly and calmly accept that fact, and _sit still!"_

"Why? Is all my moving bothering you?" Davis stuck his tongue out, "You guys have me locked up in here, and there's no bathroom...how do you expect me to sit still?"

"You are quite the mouthy brat—but don't think you'll be living with that tongue. Once your friends are done in, you're next on our list." Thundermon growled.

"Ooo! I'm _so_ scared of a talking bowling ball with a lightning bolt stuck to his forehead, you're _very threatening_." Davis said in a sarcastic tone. "Perhaps I should start calling you _Harry Baller_, so tell me, off fighting _Mon Who Must Not Be Named_? Ah—who am I kidding, you probably don't even get my joke, you dumb bowling ball!"

"Why you arrogant little child- if it wasn't for Phantomon's orders I'd—"

The Digimon surrounded itself in lightning. Davis backed up against the wall, glaring at the Digimon in defiance. Sometimes he would even ask himself where he got his bold streak from but came to the conclusion that his gut had always been more in control than his mind. Thundermon stopped its attack, sneering at Davis and yelling that the kid was lucky they _"needed him alive...for now"_. Davis was about to either fire back a sarcastic response, or just toss a pebble onto the ground at the Digimon's head, but an image of Tai flashed in his head, warning Davis to not always be so reckless.

"_What would Tai do in this situation? My crest is glowing and I'm locked away…what would should I do, Tai?_" Davis thought as he looked his tag which had pulsed earlier.

* * *

><p>"—<em>but still be careful. There is a family of yours back home that I know would be devastated if something happened to you. Sometimes our head and our hearts tell us different things to do, so whenever another situation occurs, listen to both, your head and your heart, not one or the other. And from there...just do what feels the most right to you."<em>

_"But Tai...how will I know what__—"_

_"Trust me on this…you'll know when the time comes." Tai smiled._

* * *

><p>"<em>Well…I still am not entirely sure of when that time will be, and what he meant by that head and heart stuff...but...I'm certain that right now, in this situation, Tai would sit and wait. He'd bide his time thinking of ways to get out…but at the same time, he'd have faith in the friends that were coming for him…yeah! I'm sure of it! And then we can get my crest that's lying around here somewhere and beat these bozos back!<em>"

A grin formed on Davis's face and he pulled his hand out of his pocket, slumping against the cold stone wall as he sat back down on the cool and hard floor. With all of that settled in his head, he then pondered on a new dilemma...how to ask the Digimon he just pissed off when he's going to get a bathroom break.

* * *

><p>Three days eventually had passed...it was early morning in the forest; the sun was just barely peaking through the trees. Climbing down the small, rocky ledge were four humans; Matt, T.K., Mimi and Yolei, with Palmon and Gabumon as well, of course. The two Digimon flew down to Renamon who was already at the bottom. Yolei was struggling a bit with the climb, not used to doing that kind of thing. And Mimi—she just hated the climb altogether.<p>

"This is seriously not good for my cuticles!" Mimi quietly whined to herself.

"Matt why can't we just fly on down, or something…I mean, I can pull out my digivice and—"

Matt then interrupted the very nervous Yolei, "Yolei, we have to keep a low profile, there are Digimon swarming all over the skies, and even in some parts of these woods. Digivolving is a sure way to attract attention. It's better if we go on foot, besides our meeting point with Tai and the others isn't too far away."

"It's not...you sure?" Yolei trembled, trying to find footing for her left foot as she continued down. T.K. managed to climb down to place himself right beside her.

"Yeah. You see those trees behind us, Yolei?" T.K. motioned with his head, "We're going to meet up with Tai and the others on the other side. And you're doing great Yolei…just another seven to eight feet and you will have successfully climbed down."

Matt had reached the bottom, followed by T.K. who been cheering Yolei on the entire time as she continued down. Palmon made it down to the bottom, and she joined in the cheer with T.K., as well as Hawkmon, Gabumon and Patamon. Yolei herself soon finally made it, and she danced and rejoiced with the four Digimon as Renamon just smiled in the background.

"Mimi, get a move on." Matt shouted to the girl who was still lagging behind.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm still not used to this kind of thing, and I also just got my nails done in the real world, a week before my birthday! I managed to survive the Digital World so far without breaking one, and I'm going to keep it that way!" Mimi exclaimed in utmost confidence.

The girl, however, slipped as a rock crumbled beneath her left foot, gravity pulling her down. Everyone flipped out, and Matt and T.K. scrambled in hopes of catching her...thankfully she found herself landing on something that didn't feel like the ground, though she didn't pay too much attention to it...but she noticed that T.K. and Yolei seemed to be the only humans around, where did Matt disappear too?

"Mimi—are you alright?" Yolei asked nervously.

"Not a single broken nail!" Mimi exclaimed in triumph, then her expression changed to one of confusion, "Uhhh...where'd your brother go?"

"You—You're sitting on him." T.K. said, with a sweatdrop and nervous tone to his voice.

"Oh...?"

Mimi looked down and sure enough, there was Matt, and she could hear muffled yells of _"Mimi! Get your butt off my face!"..._no doubt Matt was going to be in a bad mood.

"Well...this is awkward." Mimi blinked.

Mimi climbed off the blond, noticing that his entire face was red. Whether it was from anger, or embarrassment—or from the fact that Mimi ended up flattening him...T.K. couldn't tell. However one thing was for sure- Matt was ticked off right now.

"Uhhh...I suppose teasing you right now about whether or not the view was enjoyable...would be a bad idea?" Mimi managed to squeeze into the awkward silence.

_"Bad move…"_ T.K. winced.

"What do you think?" Matt dripped out of an icy tone.

Yep...his brother was in a bad mood, and Mimi was poking the hornet's nest.

"Now, I understand you're upset, and maybe even a bit embarrassed, but that's no reason to get after me for it—it was an accident. Besides, from your red face I'm starting to wonder if you secretly enjoyed it." Mimi said, almost innocently.

"_Another bad move Mimi…_" T.K. winced again; he could see that what little patience his brother had was diminishing quickly.

"My face is red because you used it as a landing cushion for your—"

"—Whoa! What's with all the excitement and shouting?"

Tai appeared practically out of nowhere, T.K. and Yolei grateful for this as it momentarily distracted Matt from the incident and Mimi from further teasing Matt when all signs clearly pointed to that being a bad idea.

* * *

><p>"They said to meet up with them in four days…I was thinking that we strike a whole day early, when they least expect it." Tai gathered the group under the shade of one of the trees.<p>

"So...basically, we go in and grab Davis today, right?" Veemon inquired.

"That's right, Veemon, by today; you'll be reunited with Davis." Tai smiled down at the blue Digimon.

Veemon ran circles around the group, as he shouted in cheers of joy and excitement. The humans all smiled at the blue Digimon. Matt introduced Renamon to Tai, Izzy, Kari and Sora; she asked Tai about the group of Digimon that were going to deal with the forces swarming the forests and skies. When she was briefed on that, she gave the group her goodbyes and left to go assist the other Digimon that allied themselves with the Digidestined.

"So what's the plan, Tai?" Sora asked.

"I'll leave the explanation to our resident computer genius." Tai grinned.

"Right, well there is this program Gennai showed me back when Myotismon was abducting everyone. It protected myself and my family from the Bakemon. It's called a Digital Barrier. Basically it creates a shield around those near it, making you invisible to any sentient life forms of data, even though you still have visibility of the data." Izzy explained, he paused looking at everyone and sighed.

"He means we'll be invisible to the Digimon. Sort of like a cloaking device. So we can see them, but they can't see us. " Yolei announced.

"Correct." Izzy smiled.

"Oh, that makes sense, so you're saying we can slip some of us in, undetected." Sora scooted closer to Yolei so she could get a better look at Izzy's computer screen.

"Tell me Izzy, is the program only synced up with your computer, or can we transfer it to other devices?" Yolei asked.

Everyone except Izzy looked at Yolei in shock, T.K. especially, surprised she could not only was she following along; she seemed to understand basically what Izzy had planned. Yolei blushed a little and giggled as she noticed eyes were on her.

"I knew you were smart, Yolei, but you're computer savvy too?" Mimi inquired.

"Well, I love tinkering with electronics all the time; my real specialty is in sound and visual editing. I did a lot of videos for the school's drama department, though I won't deny I love to take apart and put back together computers and other electronics for fun." She blushed harder, a little embarrassed.

"I think that's pretty cool Yolei." T.K. said with a vote of confidence.

Yolei beamed in response to T.K.'s compliment, and even more so when Mimi and Izzy also said they found it great that she was tech-savvy.

"Well hobbies aside, can you, Izzy?" Kari tried to divert the conversation back to their original objective.

"Actually, I was about to bring that up. I messaged Gennai last night, and he downloaded a program to my computer, that I can hook it up to digivices. Though he said the older models don't have the capacity in their programming for newer programs, while we can download things like maps onto our digivices-other programs are not the case as I just explained. He discovered however, the newer ones, which you guys have, can." Izzy pointed to Kari, Yolei and T.K.

"So we just upload the program to Yolei and T.K.'s devices, and the four of you," Tai motioned to Mimi, Matt, T.K. and Yolei, "-will sneak up there undetected. You get in, grab Davis, and join us in the fight."

"I'm also going to upload the program to Kari's device just to be safe; you'll never know when we'll need it in the future."

And with that, Izzy grabbed T.K.'s digivice first and hooked it up by a chord to his lap top. It downloaded the program they just discussed and he then went through the same process with Yolei's and Kari's own.

"Alright, so here's the plan." Tai begun, "Matt, Mimi, T.K., Yolei, you four will ride on Kabuterimon with Izzy, they'll drop you off to a secluded entrance under the base. The rest of us will form a surprise aerial attack, with the cloaking device that will be on Kari's digivice as well, they won't see us coming. Izzy of course will meet up with us. Oh, Izzy, show Matt the map and layout of the fortress that Gennai gave you. Then download it to his digivice."

"On it." Izzy nodded.

Matt handed Izzy his digivice as he begun to download the blueprints of the place onto the handheld device.

"They're probably keeping Davis in one of the dungeons here." Sora pointed out on the blueprints that were on Izzy's screen.

"So your job is to grab Davis and meet up with us and take out the rest of these clowns." Tai finished.

"Okay, start up the barrier, we need to be invisble, we can't have any digivolving light show be visible when they got eyes in the sky that no doubt will spot that." Tai turned to Izzy.

Izzy keyed in a couple of codes, and something happened around Tentomon and Izzy, both became invisible. Within the barrier, Izzy turned to Tentomon, as he held out his digivice. The insect Digimon nodded and Izzy just grinned. The digivice beeped a all to familiar sound when it glowed in sync with Tentomon.

"Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon!"

* * *

><p>Izzy must of done something, because the barrier then dropped, they could now see Izzy and Kabuterimon. Izzy then motioned for the four and their Digimon to follow.<p>

Izzy climbed onto Kabuterimon's back, along with Matt, T.K., Mimi, Yolei, and their Digimon. Tai had given Matt and Izzy a thumbs up, both of whom returned the gesture with a smile and nod. Izzy then explained to T.K. and Yolei how to start up the Digital Barrier program on their digivices. Going through each step, T.K. then initiated the sequence at Izzy's instruction, further advising that for now they only needed one digivice to make it work.

A light shined through the screen of T.K.'s digivice, but then the light dissipated. T.K. gave Izzy a confused look, but Izzy assured everyone that it meant that the program had worked and the barrier was in place around them.

Kabuterimon flew upward to right underneath the place where the floating fortress was said to be. Yolei had spotted it as soon as it came into view. It was bigger than they imagined. The underside of it just looked like a big..._really big_ rock that floated in the sky. But from what they could tell there was indeed a large stone fortress on top. Yolei for a minute considered if she was in a video game, but the way the building looked, the fact that they were on rescue mission...to her it sure felt like it.

They noticed a opening about the size of a door, near the bottom—left section of the rock that held up this massive fortress. Once they got up close, Kabuterimon let off Matt, Yolei, Mimi, T.K., Veemon, and the other four's Digimon.

"You guys find Davis, then join us in the battle...but don't reveal yourselves until we're all here...I guess...when things start shaking and explosions sound like they're going off—feel free to jump in and assist us." Izzy chuckled.

"Gotcha Izzy...you just make sure the rest of you keep yourselves alive until we come in to save your butts." Matt quipped.

"Will do, Matt. Oh, don't forget...use your digivices to locate Davis, but not only that, they should alert you to when the rest of us are close. Stay within the Digital Barrier, and don't separate at all unless you have too." Izzy warned.

"Just leave everything to us!" Patamon exclaimed, as he flapped his large ears in enthusiasm while he sat on top of T.K.'s head.

Izzy opened his lap top, typed away across the keyboard, and the same familiar light that faded as if nothing happened—occurred. Izzy knew that with enemies flying around it was best to be safe and cloak himself in the Digital Barrier so he could get back to Tai and the others unnoticed. He and his invisible Kabuterimon flew down to where Tai and the others were hiding in the forest below, to discuss the next phase of their plan and get them ready for the attack.

* * *

><p>Back within the ever-twisting corridors of the floating island in the sky, Matt and his team continued forward, Matt glanced at his digivice for the blueprints of the place that Izzy gave him so they won't get lost-while Mimi checked her digivice for Davis's signal.<p>

"Where to now, Mimi?" Matt whispered, confident that just because they were cloaked from sight, didn't mean the sounds they made were cloaked too.

"Well, he's somewhere above us…to the right. How far exactly- I'm not sure. It's a shame Izzy couldn't find a way to fuse these two programs or something…that way Davis's signal could appear on the blue prints." Mimi frowned.

"This will have to do for now. Besides I'm willing to bet Izzy already thought of that, and either he couldn't do it, or there wasn't enough time. He's like a supercomputer by himself." Gabumon smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose." Mimi shrugged.

They continued quietly, step by step in the hallowed out pathways for them to pass through. Up a flight of rocky stairs, the air was pretty dry and cool. Palmon squinted her eyes to see where she was going because of how dim it was in the pathways and stairs.

"Are we getting closer?" Matt turned to Mimi. She glanced back down at her digivice and just as she opened her mouth to answer-she was interrupted by Veemon.

"Hey guys..." Veemon sniffed the dry air, "do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Hawkmon asked.

"I'm sure of it—it's him! It's Davis!" Veemon ran ahead like a bolt of lightning.

"Veemon! Wait!" Palmon tried to stop the blue creature, but it was too late, Veemon was out of sight already, well out of the way of the Digital Barrier's protection.

"We better hurry and catch up...I got a bad feeling Veemon is going to get himself into trouble." T.K. scratched the side of his neck nervously.

* * *

><p>Davis continued to pace around his cell in sheer boredom. Turned and sneered at his guard...Thundermon, likewise returned the sentiment. Thundermon then turned to head out, but not before he glanced back at the preteen captive and glared at Davis with an irritated expression.<p>

"Boy, I'm going to grab me some lunch to eat. Stay still and I might let you have your meal early today." He warned before the round creature headed up the stairs.

"Tch...some meal I get here...a half of loaf of bread and a baby sized cup filled with water...once a day? Man I hate it here, I wish Tai and the others would get here soon. I'm starving." Davis slumped himself against the wall.

"_I wonder how Kari is doing...does she miss me at all? Who am I kidding__—she'd have to miss me, I mean...how could a nice girl like her not care that I'm gone?_" Davis reassured himself with a smile.

He pulled out his digivice, his hand ran over the smooth and slick surface of its screen, then traced the rubbery blue material at the side of the device. While doing this, images ran through his head…images of his adventures in this strange place he'd been summoned to. His new friends, the Digimon they met, the Digimon they fought…and to the time they all would sit around the campfire before the group was separated. His thoughts drifted their way back to Kari…her cheerful expression forever burned within the younger goggle-headed boy's mind.

"I bet she's coming to rescue me right now. Her and Angewomon are kicking the crap out of all those evil Digimon, like a couple of Amazons or something! Who am I kidding...Kari doesn't go around picking fights—" Davis trailed off into quiet laughter at the absurdity of what he just said.

"Yeah Davis...where would she even get an Amazon outfit to fight the bad guys?"

"You're totally missing the point Veemon—it has nothing to do with outfits...where do you even-never mind! The point _is..._Kari is a gentle person; she doesn't kick around villains like she's Buffy or something! She's—wait a minute...?"

Davis stopped mid-rant, and faced to the front of his cell. There a pair of brown eyes on a blue body gazed back at Davis from the other side of the iron bars. A happy expression never left the Rookie Digimon's face.

"V-Veemon!"

The boy practically jumped, nearly smacking his face right into the bars, as he reached through them to grab a hold of Veemon's shoulders. Both Davis and Veemon were ecstatic, neither could believe the other was there. Veemon's face pressed against the rusted bars, as if he was trying to faze through it like a ghost just to get close to Davis as possible.

"I can't believe you're actually here!" Davis squeezed his partner's shoulders.

"I knew you were going to be okay! I just knew it!" Veemon jumped up and down.

"What's going on in here?" Thundermon came back from getting his meal it seemed, he eyed Veemon in disgust, "How did you get in here ya runt?"

"Veemon, run for it!" Davis shouted.

Thundermon prepared to attack, sparks surrounded its fists taking aim at the blue Rookie. However, Thundermon was taken by surprise when it heard another from behind him.

"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!"

Thundermon had then found himself in the jaws of a larger creature...wolf jaws to be precise. Garurumon and Matt stepped out of the Digital Barrier, and into view. Matt patted Garurumon on the ear, with an indifferent expression on his face. Garurumon shook Thundermon and threw him into the wall.

"Garurumon, you shouldn't play around with your food, you know." He quipped.

"Why you-?" Thundermon managed to escape from Garurumon's grip, "I don't know where you came from, but I'll teach you to mess with me!"

"I'm sorry but it seems you aren't aware of who you've been messing with." Matt said in a cold tone.

"I know exactly who I'm messing with, weak humans and their brigade of traitorous Digimon that would side with you lot."

"Wrong...you've and the rest of your cowardly friends have been messing with innocent Digimon in this world, and now, you decided to pick a fight with us, the Digidestined—the last mistake you and your friends will make. I can assure you, we _humans _are _not _weak. Release Davis at once." Matt ordered.

"I don't take orders from you human! You and the rest of your Digidestined companions will die here! Starting with you, and ending with this brat!" He gestured to Davis with an icy glare. Matt likewise gave a hard glare back.

"You're right, you don't take orders from me," He then gestured to the large Champion-wolf next to him, "But he does, Garurumon, take him out!"

Thundermon aimed to attack his Digimon, but Garurumon was much faster, he clawed at the creature, and knocked him to the ground. He towered over him, a blue blast lit up in his mouth.

"Howling Blaster!"

Thundermon was destroyed by the intense blue blast that fired from Garurumon's mouth, his body broke down into bits of data that vanished into thin air.

"M-Matt...when did you...how did you know where to find me?" Davis stood there in awe, Matt smiled back at the younger boy behind bars.

"It's a long story, but to keep it short we found a way to contact Tai and the others and heard it from them. We were nearby and thought we'd give you a hand." He glanced down at Veemon, then back up to Davis, "Alright, Veemon, Davis, I need you both to stand back, Garurumon is going to bust you out of here."

Davis backed up against to the furthest side of the wall, away from the front of the cell, Veemon backed himself behind Matt. Matt then peered back at his Digimon, he gave a nod, Garurumon nodded back.

"Hold back on the blast, we don't want to take Davis out with these bars." Matt grinned.

"Don't worry, Matt, I won't let anything touch the kid." Garurumon turned to the iron bars in front of him, opened his mouth as a blue light began to form when he took a breath.

"Howling Blaster!"

The blast was held back just enough to only destroy the bottom half of the bars. Davis grinned, as he ran out ahead and Veemon jumped out from behind Matt, tackling Davis's legs with a hug.

"I missed ya, Buddy!" Veemon exclaimed.

"Missed ya too, pal. It was so boring here without ya!" Davis patted the creature on its head.

"Alright, Davis, follow me over hear and stay close. We don't leave this barrier until I say so." Matt grabbed Davis by the wrist and dragged him over to the end of the hall.

"Barrier, what barrier—?"

Davis then felt as if he passed through something. It was weird, it felt like a layer of jello, but to his surprise, as soon as that feeling passed, Mimi, T.K. Yolei, and their Digimon came into view.

"Whoa! Where did you guys come from?" He blinked.

"It's the Digital Barrier, it's sort of a cloaking device that makes us invisible…pretty neat, huh?" Yolei grinned.

"Good to see you're still in one piece." T.K. smiled.

"Yeah, those guys are just lucky I didn't have Veemon with me, the two of us would have taken them down!" Davis rubbed his nose and T.K. chuckled.

"Yeah yeah, let's start heading up to the top level, Tai and the others will be here any time now, and they'll need us for back up." Matt started, as he glanced at the blueprints on his digivice.

"Wait, Matt...remember—my tag," T.K. held up the item around his neck that had been blinking with a yellow light. "We gotta find my crest, I know its in this place somewhere."

"What? Dude—you too?" Davis pulled the tag that he had in his pocket. It had been blinking with a white light. "Mine's been going crazy the past three days."

"Wow, our crests must be right by each other I'll bet." T.K. exclaimed.

"Alright, we'll go looking for the crests, but we have to hurry. And stay close, don't leave the barrier, Tai and the others will be expecting us as back up and I don't need any of us getting separated, or worse, found by the bozos who run this place." Matt stated, Davis and T.K. nodding in response. Both of the preteen boys led the group, as they followed the pulse and pull of their tags.

* * *

><p>They continued up, staircase after staircase, hallway after hallway and luckily they had clearly made it out of the "<em>medieval basement<em>", as Mimi liked to call it, and it looked like they were finally within the fortress itself. The grey stones were cut much more neatly, the lighting had no longer been dim-the sun peaked through window seals in the hallway they were exploring. A jade color rug, trimmed with a copper hue, was sprawled across the hallway floor. The air had still felt cool and dry, as Mimi took in a breath, she noticed the air also had no taste or smell. She found it creepy and weird.

"T.K.—are we getting any closer?" Mimi whispered.

"You're not scared, are you, Mimi?" Matt teased.

"If I say yes, then does that mean it's okay for me to jump into the arms of any of you strapping young gentlemen?" Mimi giggled with as she flashed a wink at the three boys present.

"And here I thought you were scared—must have been my imagination." Matt rolled his eyes. "And Mimi...try jumping into my arms, and I'll drop you."

"Matt is so mean—hurting my feelings like that…now I'm going to need comfort to ease my fear, and my sorrow…I have a free hand to hold boys."

"Mimi, we're trying to sneak around, do keep your voice down if you can help it." Matt groaned in annoyance.

"You're still mad at me from earlier, aren't you?" Mimi stated in a hushed voice.

"Drop it Mimi." Matt hissed in a low tone.

* * *

><p>Yolei, Hawkmon, T.K., Patamon and Palmon all quietly chuckled. Davis just blinked at the group in confusion; he felt he clearly had missed out on something. He looked to Veemon, who looked equally confused.<p>

"Hey, the pull is getting stronger!" T.K. whispered in excitement. "We're really close!"

They found themselves at a large door; it was twice the size of Garurumon. The wood was old and dusty. Davis covered his nose so he wouldn't sneeze as the dust tickled the insides of his nostrils.

"They gotta be in here." Davis muttered, his right hand still clamped over his nose.

"Allergies?" Yolei asked, though it was pretty obvious what the answer was.

"I hate dust." Davis growled.

"Allergies are the least of our problems right now. Let's go in." Matt gripped the cold metal of the knob and ignored the dust that it was covered with.

The door was pretty heavy, Garurumon helped Matt push it open. The group all froze when they saw Phantomon fly through, he was being directly followed by LadyDevimon.

"Something isn't right, Thundermon isn't answering me." Phantomon growled.

"You shouldn't worry too much, I'm sure he's just being a lazy bum and taking a nap or something." LadyDevimon shrugged.

"Well I'm still going down to check. You go back and wait the others in the main hall, and wait for any sign that the Digidestined are headed our way. While you're at it, contact the RedVegiemon brothers. Tell them to be extra alert in patrolling the castle." Phantomon narrowed his eyes.

"My, my...still ever cautious I see." LadyDevimon teased.

"You can never be too careful. Besides, I take my job very seriously. I was tasked with their destruction, and I plan on carrying out their termination at Lord Etemon's request. Is it so wrong I like to make certain the job is done?" Phantomon inquired.

"Not at all...it makes no difference to me. Just as long as I get to have some fun before we end these children and their Digimon, then I'm content." She grinned with malice in her eyes.

Phantomon left down the stairway T.K, Davis and the others came up just recently, content with LadyDevimon's answer. LadyDevimon soon continued down the hallway, the others finally let out the breath of air they had been holding soon as the two appeared.

"We better hurry; they're going to soon notice that Davis is gone." Hawkmon whispered to the group.

"Right, come on." Davis ran in ahead, Veemon followed suit. Matt, Garurumon, Mimi and Palmon continued after. T.K. and Patamon ran in next, followed by Yolei and Hawkmon.

* * *

><p>Yolei's foot caught onto one of the rugs in the room. She tripped and fell but luckily T.K. caught her and placed his hand over her mouth. Yolei looked up, T.K. put his index finger over his lips, before pointing to the open door, where they saw a RedVegiemon waddle on by.<p>

"Thanks, T.K." Yolei whispered as he helped her back up.

T.K. just nodded and they continued through the empty room. But where was his and Davis's crests? They just had to be in that room, but they didn't see anything blinking with the light of their tags?

"There is nothing in here...it's just...dust, a big stupid rug, and stone walls." Davis grumbled, peering down at his tag, both annoyed and confused.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere." Patamon jumped off T.K.'s head and flew up to the ceiling, and to each wall.

They continued to look at every stone in the walls, Patamon checked every single one in the ceiling and still no sign of the crests. Palmon then tugged at Mimi's ankle.

"What is it Palmon?"

"We didn't check the floor!" She pointed out.

Matt and Garurumon rolled up the large rug; a lot of dust kicked up in the air and irritated everyone's noses. Davis jammed both hands against his face, as he felt a sneeze attack coming; luckily he managed to hold it in. They looked at two perfectly cut square stones in the center of the room, not a single particle of dust was on it. Both had symbols on them.

One, T.K., Matt, and Mimi recognized very well…the symbol of hope. The other symbol was a new one. It looked like a "V" that was bent inward at the top, and a small circle in the center of it, and two small circles, one each, outside, on the sides of the "V". Both squares had been blinking the colors yellow and white respectively. T.K. and Davis nodded at each other, and held out their tags. The stone squares in the ground glowed brightly they shrunk in size. When they had shrunk enough, they floated over to T.K. and Davis, sliding themselves within both boys tags.

"Alright, let's go head out and show these guy-guys…ah…ah." Davis couldn't hold it in anymore, T.K. ran up in hopes to stop the other young adolescent boy, however, by the time he got there, Davis already erupted with a loud sneeze that echoed throughout the room. Because it was such a loud and strong sneeze, it actually knocked Davis backwards and tripped over T.K.'s foot. And like a domino effect, the goggled preteen crashed into the blond preteen; which caused T.K. to drop his digivice and tag. Both boys tumbled out of the barrier.

"What was that? Hey! What are you doing out of your cell? And who are you, one of his friends?" The RedVegiemon shouted as it appeared into the room.

"Great, your nose is going to get us killed Davis." T.K. quipped.

"Don't blame me, blame the dust." Davis sniffed.

The RedVegiemon shoved T.K. back down, and grabbed Davis with its long, vine-like arms. Davis tried to break out of its grip but it obviously hadn't planned on letting the youth go.

"Let go of me you over-sized Turnip…or whatever the heck you are!"

* * *

><p>"Davis is in trouble!" Veemon growled, Mimi however winked at the blue Rookie, he blinked up at her in confusion.<p>

"I have an idea." She giggled.

"Well, it seems your friends have already come for you...this is great, I'm sure you're not needed anymore. I bet Master Phantomon won't mind if I chop you up and have you for stew tonight!" The RedVegiemon cackled.

"Stew? But you're a vegetable! I'm a human, humans eat veggies! That's how it always works!" Davis barked.

"Yeah well in Digital World, vegetables eat you, Davis..." T.K. got back up to his feet.

"Well, that's really messed up!" Davis fired back.

Suddenly they were interrupted by a girlish giggle. RedVegiemon turned to its left, and saw a girl with chestnut brown hair...Mimi. There was big smile on her face, it was cat-like almost, and she pulled something out of her bag.

"Ick, you smell...let me fix that!"

She sprayed something it its eyes, causing the red veggie Digimon to recoil in pain, RedVegiemon's eyes teared up and it screamed that its eyes were burning and stinging-Davis released from its grip in the process.

"What was that Mimi? Pepper Spray?" T.K. asked.

"No silly...Fantasy Orchid, the splash of beauty and romance, every girl should carry this perfume in case of very important occasions." Mimi stuck her tongue out.

Suddenly Veemon hopped out of the Digital Barrier, not happy that someone wanted to eat his best friend.

"Nobody tries to make a stew out of my best buddy! V-Headbutt!" Veemon slammed his skull into the gut of the Red Champion creature.

"I told Veemon to let me and Garurumon take care of it...oh well." Mimi chuckled.

"Why you little—!" RedVegiemon stopped in its tracks and gulped, for a large white wolf was now in front of him.

Garurumon growled and bared his teeth.

"Where are all you people coming from?" RedVegiemon shouted in frustration and fear, as another human with blond hair also appeared out of nowhere.

"T.K. you and Davis should be more careful. As for you..." Matt glared at the RedVegiemon, "We're not on your menu."

RedVegiemon bounced in the air, as high as it could go, glaring hatefully at the humans below and planning on attacking Matt this time. Garurumon of course, would never allow such a thing. He jumped into the air and grabbed the RedVegiemon with its teeth. The red creature was paralyzed with fear as it noticed the very mouth it was in, glowed with a blue light.

"Howling Blaster!"

The RedVegiemon disintegrated within Garurumon's mouth.

* * *

><p>"Everyone, get back in the barrier now, they're no doubt heard all that, and they're bound to notice you're gone by now Davis." Matt ordered in an even tone and slipped back into the invisible barrier as Garurumon followed.<p>

Mimi dashed after them and slipped her perfume back into her back as she disappeared behind the safety of the barrier. T.K., Davis and Veemon followed after her. Patamon jumped out of Yolei's arms, and into T.K.'s.

"I was worried about you, but Mimi and Matt came up with a plan, so I knew you'd be okay." Patamon nuzzled his face into T.K.'s green shirt, T.K. stroked its partner on the head and gave Patamon a soft smile.

"T.K., you dropped these." Yolei handed T.K. back his tag and digivice.

"Thanks Yolei."

T.K. put the tag, now with his Crest of Hope sitting in there, around his neck, and the digivice back in his pocket. T.K. had a nagging feeling inside of him though. There was...something in the air. Something waiting in the wing. Perhaps it was instinct, but something wasn't right. Patamon must of felt the same, his expression mirrored T.K.'s.

"Let's get going. We don't have any time to waste." Matt motioned for the group to exit the room.

"Let's go beat up some bad guys!" Veemon exclaimed, Davis gave Veemon a high five in agreement.

"Yeah, we're going to own them so bad, they won't know what hit 'em!"

T.K. laughed quietly, Yolei snorted and rolled her eyes but smiled—Davis's energetic personality was contagious...Mimi then nudged T.K. and Matt, four dots appearing on the screen of her digivice, away from their five dots. They all knew what that meant, Tai and the others had begun to make their move.

T.K. took a deep breath, it was now or never. Whatever happened, would happened, they just had to be ready to face it.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>-To Be Continued-<span>**_

**Thundermon and RedVegiemon are both Digimon that appeared in Digimon Adventure 02, hence my reason I feel they should be used obviously. (once again if you don't remember what they look like, Digimon Wikia baby! :D)**

**Yeah I know I said you'd guys be getting more action…well we have some action…but not a lot…I don't remember if I said this, but if I didn't what I truly meant was the next few chapters. Next chapter…BATTLE TIME! (epic Digimon theme tune plays) **

**Ahem…anyways. **

**If any of you are wondering where the inspiration for that little um…"cheek to cheek" moment between Matt and Mimi…ummm…a moment from personal experience. ^^;**

**You see, about 3 or 4 months ago back when I was still at school (on break right now, Fall for me is what summer is for most students…yeah I had a weird college schedule for the year) I was hanging out with my friends from my theater class. We were all sitting on this tall brick wall…and since I'm so short I had to get helped up to sit on this wall with them. So naturally…same applies for coming down. One of the guys told me to not be scared, to just jump and he'll catch me….you can guess where this is going. ^^;**

**Ironically the guy's name was not Matt…but Joe XD**

**So I got the idea at some point have this hilarious moment between Mimi and Matt. Because I can't really see anyone else getting as riled up about it as Matt XD.**

**Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get done. First I had vacation, then I had A-fest (anime convention) then I started on a Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver fanfic. Then I been busy being my mom's maid, something always interrupting my sit down and get this fic DONE time! XD**

**But here it is my wonderful readers! Be sure to leave a review!**

**No flames are still allowed…for if there is flaming Bakemon will climb in yo windows and…oh forget it.**

**Many thanks to LithiumRukia for being my beta :D**


	16. A Felt Presence

**Chapter 16: A Felt Presence  
><span>**

**_Re-edit Note: (April 30, 2013) Did a couple of touch ups here and there, and of course gave the chapter a title. Bear with me I did the touch up of this chapter before I did some re-edits of 7-15. School and life is pretty hectic atm._  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

LadyDevimon made her way through the stone hallways of the fortress, heading for the Great Hall, where her other colleagues had been waiting. She stopped in her tracks as a Bakemon appeared in front of her.

"We have a problem! Where is Phantomon? We must alert him at once!" The Bakemon exclaimed nervously .

"Calm down. What is the problem?" She asked, uninterested.

"Our forces—in the skies and in the forests! They're being overrun with rebel Digimon! They came out of nowhere and are holding off our forces!" The Bakemon shouted hysterically.

"What? What do you mean rebel Digimon?" _Now_ she was paying attention.

"Our troops in the woods below and in our skies are being overrun! It was a surprise attack out of nowhere!"

"Tch—so they have been hiding out, waiting for a chance to strike, I see. Inform Master Etemon on all of this at once! I'll go alert Phantomon." She ordered.

"Yes ma'am, right away!" The Bakemon left immediately.

"What is going on now, Sister?" NeoDevimon appeared behind his her and she sneered right back.

"Why aren't you waiting in the Great Hall, where Phantomon told us to?"

"I sensed that something was up; I feel the presence of multiple Digimon outside of our walls." He answered, "Besides, since when did you actually take orders from Phantomon? He may answer to Etemon, but you and I both answer to a higher authority."

"Yes, I know, but our great masters, the Dark Ones, told you that the two of us must work with Etemon's subordinates on this, did they? That's what you told me, after all, they speak directly with you." She countered back.

"Yes they did, you are correct sister. Now tell me, what is going on?"

"One of the Bakemon reported to me that the troops in the skies and in the forest were both ambushed by a group of rebel Digimon!" She spat venomously, "Brother, do you think—"

"Yes, that is most likely the case, and we'll deal with it when the time comes...nothing else matters except for the death of the Digidestined children." NeoDevimon slipped through a dark portal in the wall, LadyDevimon following.

* * *

><p>Kabuterimon carried Tai, Izzy, Sora, Kari, Agumon, Gatomon and Biyomon and they circled over the fortress, invisible to the eyes of the enemy thanks to the Digital Barrier. Izzy and Tai scanned the fortress, counting the enemies guarding the outside and entrances. Tai glanced back at Izzy, who in turn gave Tai a nod, and typed away on his keyboard and inserted his digivice into his computer.<p>

"Alright, I think my Digimon Analyzer got each of them so far." Izzy spoke up, ready to answer Tai's silent question.

"And?"

"The one guarding the south gate, Golemon, rock type Digimon, Champion level. The one guarding the front gate, DarkLizardmon...also a Champion level, and it looks like it has some nasty darkness and fire type of attacks. Now, for the ones on the roof all three of them are Ultimate level—that insect Digimon over there is called Okuwamon, the bird-like one is Crowmon, and that machine one is called Tekkamon." Izzy explained as he read the screen.

"So far, two Champions and three Ultimates...alright, we need to get the first blow in...Kari, you're up. Gatomon you need to strike swift and fast, if you can take one of them out right away, it would help us out a lot." Tai turned to his sister and the cat Digimon.

Both nodded before turning to each other with a determined expression in their eyes. Kari squeezed the crest that rested around her neck while pulling her digivice out and pointing it at Gatomon. Her digivice and crest began to glow in sync with Gatomon's body.

"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"

Kari climbed onto Angewomon's back, and the two took off out of the barrier. Angewomon set her sights onto the small machine creature, Tekkamon.

"He reminds me of that infuriating Giromon that gave us so much trouble this week." Angewomon scowled.

"Give him your best shot Angewomon" Kari frowned.

"With pleasure, Heaven's Charm!" A large holy blast of light in the shape of the cross aimed straight at Tekkamon, who managed to dodge the blast, but the impact of the blast that crashed into the tower sent Tekkamon on a date with the lower levels of the fortress roof below him.

"Intruders!" The machine Digimon spat as he got up from the fall and shook off some of the pebbles and debris from the blast.

"Sora, your move now." Tai instructed the girl who gave him a nod.

"Ready Biyomon?" She pulled her digivice out.

"Ready Sora!"

The bird Digimon's body began to glow and she hopped off Kabuterimon as the light shined even brighter. Sora then pulled out her crest which also began to glow a red light. Biyomon's body began to change in drastic shape.

"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon...Birdramon digivolve to...Garudamon!"

She hopped off Kabuterimon and jumped into Garudamon's protective talons. They appeared out of the safety of the barrier, and flew down at top speed. Crowmon was about to ambush Kari and Angewomon, who was fighting Tekkamon. But Garudamon got into the dark feathered creature's way, as she fired an attack straight at the enemy Digimon.

"Wing Blade!"

Fire emitted from Garudamon's wings and when it hit Crowmon, it sent the bird tumbling to the ground. Garudamon picked up Sora and Kari and set the two girls down on the ground, away from the fight where they would be safe as Angewomon and Garudamon continued to fight.

"Alright Izzy, you guys keep that Okuwamon busy, Agumon and I will go knock on the front door." Tai smirked.

Kabuterimon flew to the stoned yard at the front of the fortress, Izzy typed away on his computer screen, preparing to dissipate the Digital Barrier. Tai and Agumon hopped off Kabuterimon headed straight for the front gate, DarkLizardmon spotted them and readied itself to defend the gate. Tai's digivice beeped and glowed brightly from the spot where had it clipped onto his belt, as Agumon glowed in unison with it and his body began to grow and take shape.

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"

Okuwamon spotted Tai, and Greymon locked into a battle with DarkLizardmon, seeing the other Digimon fighting the other two Ultimates, Okuwamon decided it would be best to sneak attack from above the human with the Champion Digimon.

It was caught by surprise when another human with red hair and a Kabuterimon suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The Kabuterimon's body began to glow a brilliant light, in sync with something around the red haired boy's neck.

"Kabuterimon digivolve to...MegaKabuterimon!"

It happened so fast, Okuwamon barely had time to react, had he not dodged when he did, he would have been impaled by the horn of the rampaging red beetle Digimon that suddenly appeared.

* * *

><p>"What on earth is going on?" SkullMeramon growled.<p>

Phantomon suddenly appeared, and not in a good mood.

"We're under attack, those children somehow slipped under our radar, and the boy is missing from the dungeon. There is no trace of Thundermon, and the RedVegiemon brothers are telling me one of their brothers suddenly hasn't reported in. Our forces in the woods and skies were also ambushed." He spat out.

"Well, it seems the good little Digidestined have some sneaky tricks of their own." NeoDevimon chuckled with amusement.

"How did they get here undetected? That's what I want to know!" Minotarumon smashed a table with his canon arm into little pieces.

"Well it doesn't matter now I suppose, as annoying as it is. We'll just have to kill them all." LadyDevimon shrugged.

"LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and SkullMeramon wait here...we can't use all assets just yet. Minotarumon and I will join the battle outside." Phantomon commanded, then he turned around and created four orbs into the middle of the air, the three remaining RedVegiemon brothers and Golemon appeared within them.

"It seems the children created a surprise counterattack on us. Golemon, RedVegiemon brothers, you will assist me and Minotarumon in turning this back into our favor." Phantomon ordered, they all saluted and said _"sir yes sir" _before the orbs vanished. He turned his attention back to the other three Digimon he ordered to stay put, "See if any of you can contact our forces below or in the skies, we might have to force some to withdraw if worse does come to worse."

* * *

><p>"Hey Yolei come on, we can't dawdle!" Davis shook his head impatiently at the girl who had stopped dead in her tracks and was looking through an open doorway to some old dusty room that Davis could care less about.<p>

"What's the matter, Yolei?" T.K. asked.

"It's nothing for now, just something I have to talk to Izzy about when we meet up with them." She nodded and pressed forward with the rest of them.

T.K. took a moment to linger behind, noticing that inside the room there was what looked like a huge monitor, with buttons, keyboards, switches and other things all covered in dust...A giant computer basically...or something like that. Yolei was probably curious as to what it was for, what it could do, and how to work it. As T.K. followed the others, he wondered if it could control this entire fortress, then that would be a huge asset to them—he guessed Yolei already came to that conclusion.

* * *

><p>Greymon impaled the DarkLizardmon with the horn on his head, the Digimon howled in pain, the black flames around it's body though began to flare out more wild than ever, as it wrapped it's arms around Greymon—prevented the dinosaur Digimon from escaping.<p>

"Greymon look out!" Tai shouted.

"Dark Flare!" DarkLizardmon shouted as it flames from its body shot out and enveloped both Digimon in a black flame.

Greymon managed to get out of the hold, jumped out of the flames with some very noticeable burn marks, however Greymon shook off the pain and acted as if it was nothing.

"Nova Blast!"

Greymon fired his tread mark fireball at the metal helmet of the DarkLizardmon, when the flame collided with it's metal head—it had sent the Digimon tumbling backwards, as it slammed into the gate behind it, the large door broke as the Digimon crashed through the wood.

"That's the way to do it Greymon!" Tai cheered.

Izzy, Sora, and Kari all ran over to Tai and watched the Digimon battle each other. Garudamon engaged with Crowmon and MegaKabuterimon with Okuwamon, the bird and insect Digimon continued to rain their aerial assault upon each other. Tekkamon managed to zip its way out of Angewomon's view, and snuck up behind her. A current of electricity surged all around Tekkamon's small sword.

"Angewomon look out!" Kari cried out.

"Electronic Sword Blast!"

Tekkamon aimed to strike Angewomon's wings from behind. Luckily, it was thanks to Kari's warning that Angewomon avoided the blade from slicing through her wings...however; it did graze her lower back, a surge of electricity piercing through her body. Kari watched in wide eyed horror as her companion endured the electrical attack.

Angewomon remained where she was, and continued to endure the pain of the electricity that surged through her body; her hands glowed a bright green color, clapped them together, and then held them out wide outstretched as a green circular light formed around her body.

"Holy Air!" The circular green light blasted away from her and struck Tekkamon, his body instantly froze the moment the light touched him. Kari's face brightened into a smile of relief when Angewomon managed to turn the tables on her assailant.

"Some men just don't have any manners at all."

Angewomon turned to face her attacker; Tekkamon's face was frozen in a panicked expression as Angewomon moved her arms as if she had been holding a bow and arrow. The two small wings on each side of her left glove grew in size, formed itself into a bow and a flash of light appeared in her other hand in the shape of an arrow.

"No...please—!" Tekkamon begged futility, being paralyzed there was no way to dodge this attack, especially at a point blank range.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon fired the arrow of light, Tekkamon bursted into bits of data the instant it pierced him.

"Yeah, one down—three more to go!" Sora exclaimed.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that." A new voice appeared. They whipped around and spotted Phantomon with three RedVegiemon, a Golemon, and a Minotarumon.

"You should work on your math!" One of the RedVegiemon laughed.

"Where is your little friend that's been staying with us, hiding?" Phantomon asked in a low tone, "And how did you manage to sneak in to free him?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that's classified information, next question." Sora quipped.

"Very well...we'll do this the hard way." Phantomon darkened.

"Izzy, you got information on these new ones?" Tai asked.

"Well as you already know," Izzy typed on his keyboard and activated the Digimon Analyzer, "Phantomon is an Ultimate level, and Golemon is a Champion level. The RedVegiemon are also Champion level...that bull with the arm cannon over there is called Minotarumon, he's an Ultimate."

"So they got us outnumbered do they? We'll soon see about that." Tai uttered in a hushed tone.

Angewomon flew down to confront the newest of the enemies. Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon and Greymon had continued to focus their fight on Crowmon, Okuwamon, and DarkLizardmon. The RedVegiemon and Golemon joined DarkLizardmon in an effort to gang up on Greymon. Minotarumon and Phantomon focused their efforts on Angewomon.

The RedVegiemon wrapped their vines around Greymon's legs—the giant creature fell hard to the ground. Golemon and DarkLizardmon raised their arms above Greymon's head, as Tai cried out to his Digimon—Izzy held him back and whispered in his friend's ear that they are powerless to help their Digimon—they got to wait for Matt and the others to help. Tai relented but gave Izzy a nod, relaxed and Izzy let him go. They watched helplessly as the Digimon battled, Tai felt especially helpless as Greymon continued to get barraged by the other Champions.

Suddenly, Garurumon bursted through the shambles of the front gate and tackled Golemon. He turned to one of the RedVegiemon and his mouth glowed blue light.

"Howling Blaster!"

That RedVegiemon bursted into bits of data, and just then ExVeemon flew in and sent a flying kick to one of the other RedVegiemon, then turned to the second RedVegiemon and the mark on ExVeemon's chest began to glow.

"X-Laser!" The x-shaped blast smashed into the other RedVegiemon and it bursted instantly.

DarkLizardmon then found himself knocked away with a golden staff. When the creature looked up, there was Angemon.

"Flower Cannon!"

"Heatwave!"

Phantomon and Minotarumon found themselves being hit by a blast that came from out of nowhere. They shook off the pain, and looked up to see Lillymon and Hippogriffmon. Tai and the others jumped with excitement and relief when they saw the other Digimon appear to help. Phantomon was not so pleased.

"Where do these Digimon keep coming from?" He hissed.

"Where indeed...?" A young male spoke up with sarcasm in his voice.

The others all looked up and saw Matt, T.K., Yolei, Mimi and Davis. Tai, Izzy, Kari, and Sora all ran up with bright smiles on their faces, beyond thrilled to have the assistance they had been waiting for. As well as the relief to see that Davis is okay and unharmed. Tai gave Davis one of his own one-armed bro-hugs before he gave the younger boy a noggie. When Tai finally released the boy, Izzy and Sora both give Davis a pat on the shoulders and expressed that they are grateful he is safe. Davis, while glad to see them all, and happy to hear that they all were worried about his safety, momentarily forgot that everyone was there once a certain girl came into view.

He noticed Kari behind Tai, as she cautiously approached him, Tai held back a somber chuckle because Kari still looked like she felt guilty about Davis being captured (even after telling her that it wasn't her fault) and stared holes into the ground.

"Davis...I'm glad you're—" Kari continued looking down at the ground, to keep the guilt that was in her eyes hidden, but was then interrupted when Davis bulldozed everyone around him and gripped her hands with such excitement that it startled her, she forced herself to look up at the energetic preteen.

"Kari you made it!" His eyes practically had glowed like a fanboy seeing their favorite super hero.

"Ummm...yeah of course I'd make it." Kari was at a loss for words from Davis's enthusiasm, but then frowned again, "You're not mad at me are you?"

"Huh? Why would I be mad at you? I mean...who could ever be mad at _you?_" Davis was in aghast at such a suggestion, being mad at Kari was inhumanly possible.

"Oh..." Kari then glanced at her older brother, who gave her a tender smile that also basically said _"Told you so?". _She smiled back at Davis, "It's not important."

Sora and Izzy then babbled to Yolei about Hawkmon's Ultimate form that they (Davis, Kari, Tai, Sora and Izzy) had seen for the first time, and Izzy began to inquire about her crest and what it symbolizes...their happy reunion however was interrupted, Phantomon with a flick of his sickle sent poor Lillymon on a date with the stone walls of the fortress.

"_How_...how did you four get here? How did you all manage to sneak past our defenses and free that brat undetected?" Phantomon, who is usually composed, patience had begun to run thin.

Lillymon had managed to get out of the wall she was thrown into, but the battles came to a halt as Phantomon demanded answers.

Tai points to Sora with a sarcastic tone and smug grin on his face, "I'll direct you to the previous answer my companion gave to your questions earlier."

"Very well, then...since you enjoy being difficult, we can be quite difficult as well—you'll all regret coming to their aid—that includes the Digimon that oh-so-conveniently appeared to ambush our forces in the forests below and the skies around us. You aren't the only ones who came prepared, I had other measures taken into account, don't count on coming out of this alive!" Phantomon roared.

"Throw us everything you got, we'll just throw it right back in your faces!" Tai's confidence didn't even begin to falter.

"Oh believe me, we intend to...for as we speak, Lord Etemon is on his way here." Phantomon relished in the wave of dread that swam through each of the Digidestined' faces.

"Etemon is on his way here?" Matt breathed out.

"Yes, and I'm certain he'd be delighted to take care of your friends aiding you in the forests beneath us...he said we should only beat you all within an inch of your pathetic existences...he wants the pleasure of finishing of you all himself." Phantomon cackled.

The Digimon all resumed their battles, the Champions fought the Champions and Ultimates faced against the Ultimates.

Yolei turned to Izzy and whispered, "Izzy I found something earlier, it was quite interesting. It was a large computer room, it was old but I think it might control this fortress, I was wondering if you could help me kick start it back up and see what it can do."

"Turn on your Digital Barrier," Izzy motioned to her digivice, "And lead the way...this might give us the edge that we need, I have a feeling that Etemon on his way isn't the only thing Phantomon is counting on to bank their victory."

Izzy explained to Tai and Matt what he and Yolei were about to do, both boys warned the red headed teen and lavender haired preteen to be careful, since they are going in without the protection of their Digimon.

"Yolei are you sure about this? You and Izzy won't have anyone to protect you, I know the barrier will keep you guys invisible...but what if something goes _wrong?_ You should at least take Matt or Tai with you, that way Greymon or Garurumon could help...heck maybe Davis and ExVeemon should go with you. Angemon and I could—" T.K. trailed off, an uneasy feeling was in the pit of his stomach since they got to this fortress.

He didn't understand what it was, but he just had a bad feeling, that there was something..._waiting_...for them. Which made no sense, he reasoned to himself, after all, something was indeed waiting for them, these evil Digimon that played this whole plot to get Tai, Sora, Izzy, and Kari here cornered to gang up on them and kill them using Davis as bait...but this was different.

T.K. didn't voice it. In fact, he pushed it out of his thoughts and forced himself to forget about it and to focus all of his attention on rescuing Davis and sneaking back to the battle against those guys. But something was different...he supposed it was just he had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen and the fact that any part of the group separating without the protection of Digimon didn't sit well with him at all.

Sure Izzy was smart...well smart was an understatement, he was _really—really smart_, and Yolei seemed lately proven that she's strong in her own right, but them going off into this fortress by themselves when they don't know what else Phantomon could be planning just didn't feel right. Though if he had to admit it, he was more worried about Yolei...she was still a newer member to the team...Izzy and the rest of them were used to reacting to dangerous situations (plus it helped that Izzy was a computer genius in a world made up of solely data). Yolei was still new in this sort of area, and she'd never had to face danger like this on her own without protection of a Digimon.

"T.K. don't worry about this, we'll be alright. And if what I'm guessing is correct then we'll be not only safe, but we can find a way to turn everything in our favor no sweat!" Yolei beamed with confidence.

She started up the Digital Barrier from her digivice. She and Izzy vanished from sight and—they assumed—headed for the large computer room that Yolei had stumbled upon.

* * *

><p>"What's with that ruckus out there?" LadyDevimon frowned in impatience, "I don't see why we can't join the battle?"<p>

"I'm with LadyDevimon, I'm tired of being cooped up in here—I want to go smash some skulls!" SkullMeramon growled.

"We have our orders. Phantomon doesn't want to show all his cards just yet..." NeoDevimon just shrugged.

"Brother, since when did you ever follow Phantomon's orders?" She mocked—repeating the words he spoke to her earlier.

"I'm only doing what's necessary, there are two things that should concern us at all, our victory and following the orders our all-powerful masters gave us...besides, there is only one target I'm interested in...and I won't move until that target is separated from the rest of their lot. You two do what you like...I'm going to inform some of our troops to stand by and await orders if they are needed back here." NeoDevimon then disappeared into a dark portal he created in the ground beneath his feet.

LadyDevimon created an orb, to watch the battle outside, her curiosity for their opponents had her on edge—this boredom was suffocating.

"Hmmm...well we have more enemies than expected...seems like it shouldn't be too boring." She observed, until she saw two angel Digimon appear into view, a smile curved onto her lips, "Hello, what do we have here?"

Seeing Angewomon, everything about her pissed LadyDevimon off...oh ripping her apart would probably be more fun than she'd had in years. Ah, but there was another too...yes, an Angemon. She had to admit, even for one of those pathetic _"holy" _Digimon, he was at least something to look at. Powerful for even a Champion Digimon, serious, and probably someone who wouldn't break so easily...ah yes, her new toys would be fun to play with indeed.

* * *

><p>Tai was a bit nervous: between Izzy and Yolei in there without protection other than invisibility, the warning that Etemon was on his way, and now Kari seemed to look—<em>anxious <em>and maybe even a bit _afraid _in all those layers of worry plastered on her face.

He wanted to shrug it off and decide that she was just nervous and stressed from everything that had gone on, but he knew he couldn't. It wasn't like those situations where she blames herself for things that aren't her fault or beyond her control, when she wore that face...it always meant that she thought something bad was about to happen.

"Kari is something wrong?" Sora asked, also aware of the distress in Kari's expression.

"I...umm...sense something..." Kari muttered as she looked down at her shoes.

"Sense something? What do you mean?" Mimi asked, genuinely confused.

Just then a black hole that looked like what could be described looked like a shadowed whirl pool appeared in the stone ground in front of them...a figure slowly emerged from it. Tai, Sora, Kari and T.K. definitely recognized the figure. It was the Digimon—LadyDevimon.

"Well, hello there, Children. I assume you are all the Digidestined." She ran a critical eye over all of them. She glanced back at Davis and snorted, before resting her gaze on Matt and Tai, "Well I see not all humans are puny little boys...I suppose you aren't unfortunate looking...for humans that is."

"Hey! I'm not puny! And quit calling me small all the time!" Davis shouted.

"Oh great...not her again." Sora groaned in annoyance, though she had a feeling this wasn't the same LadyDevimon as before. "What's with her anyway?"

Kari too frowned at the memory; she really did not like that other LadyDevimon, this one was no different, she completely creeped her out and found herself in one of those rare moments where she was irritated at someone.

"She still looks like a witch, and it seems she still acts like one too." Even Kari couldn't hide her disapproval.

"What a hag." Mimi narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"Uh-oh, the girls' claws are starting to come out." T.K. muttered to Davis.

"Wow...never thought I'd see a face like that on Kari of all people...are we in some alternate universe, this just seems so unlike her." Davis gawked.

She then eyed Davis and T.K. again, both felt uncomfortable being gazed at the she-devil Digimon with such an expression, like they were nothing but mice that a cat wants to _"play"_ around with before she finds them boring and decides to finish them off.

In the blink of an eye, her red claw-like nails grew long, like spears almost. They were both trapped, two of her nails on each sides of their neck, dangerously close to their bare skin. She looked like she was ready at any minute to snap their heads off with her long nails as if they were a pair of scissors.

"So, who wants to volunteer to entertain me first?" She said in sing-song voice that dripped from a grin filled with malice.

It seemed she got what she hoped for. Angemon spotted what had happened, and charged forward, he slammed his staff into her long claws and broke them. He turned to her as his right hand glowed.

"Hand of Fate!" The bright light slammed into her body, as she crashed hard into the cold stone beneath her.

"T.K., are you and Davis alright?" Angemon helped the two boys back up to their feet.

Both boys nodded and T.K. spoke up, "We're fine, just be careful, okay?"

LadyDevimon dragged her body out of the rubble, licking her wounds on her damaged hand. The broken claws slowly started to heal, as a predatory grin flashed on her face.

"Someone likes to play rough I see...this is going to be _so_ much fun!"

She flew at rapid speed, crashing into Angemon and slamming him into the walls, which cracked under the force. LadyDevimon then raised her now fully healed claws, and they grew within a blink of an eye once again, piercing Angemon's wings. Angemon howled in pain and T.K. screamed out his name in horror.

"Oh my, I didn't hurt you too much, did I _angel-face?_" She asked in a mocked-sympathetic tone.

T.K. squeezed onto his crest that rested around his neck, prepared to give Angemon the power he needed to digivolve, but...

"Celestial Arrow!"

The arrow of light pierced through the claws and LadyDevimon coiled back. She gripped tightly onto her hand and trembled in pain at the holy attack.

Angewomon left Phantomon and Minotarumon in the capable hands of Lillymon and Hippogriffmon. Angemon needed her assistance...plus she sensed something troubled Kari and she figured it possibly had something to do with the _she-devil._

"You're going to pay for that, Blondie!" LadyDevimon hissed. "How dare you interrupt my date!"

LadyDevimon flew right up and slapped Angewomon, who in turn slapped her right back. This continued to elevate, hair had been pulled, slaps and kicks had been tossed around, LadyDevimon clawed at Angewomon, and even Angewomon threw some punches.

"Uhh...Tai, what the heck is going on?" Matt just stared at this whole scene with a dumbfounded expression.

"Catfight..." Tai winced as Angewomon kicked LadyDevimon square in the jaw.

"Go get her, Angewomon!" Sora shouted, "You show her who's boss!"

"Rip that trampy hag to pieces!" Mimi hissed.

Tai and Matt gawked at both of the teen girls, then turned to each other and shrugged.

"_Girls..."_ They both groaned.

Davis stopped his cheering for their Digimon, and glanced at Kari. His eyebrows knitted together in concern when he noticed how Kari had wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Her knuckles were pale, her skin had very noticeable goosebumps, and her fingers trembled.

"Kari...is everything okay?"

She shook her head, Davis motioned for T.K. to come over before he placed his left hand on her shoulder in hopes to comfort the girl.

"Kari, what's the matter?" T.K. asked, taking in Kari's condition, and understanding why Davis was so worried. Tai, Matt, Mimi and Sora all noticed that something was still up, and headed over as well.

"I can sense it...there is something here. Something _evil, _" She breathed.

"Well yeah, these Digimon all seem quite evil to me." Matt stated.

"No you don't understand...I mean...like this cold dark feeling, something that is _purely _evil, something that radiates dark power." Kari shivered.

"Is it coming from that _hag, _perhaps Kari?" Mimi asked.

"She's different from the other LadyDevimon that we fought in the past, Tai...she feels...darker for some reason...I don't know, her presence feels more overwhelming than the other one I felt when I was a kid. But...that's only half of it...there is another dark presence here...and...it feels even colder. Something bad is going to happen...I can feel it."

"Another presence?"

Davis stared at the girl, unsure what to say to ease her. He'd never seen Kari like this before. Sure, an annoyed Kari was weird, but it honestly hadn't really wrecked his nerves nearly as much as this _shivering _Kari, talking about things she could sense that no one else could, with fear plastered all over her face.

The others were all uneasy after they heard about all this, but T.K. probably felt the most uneasy about it. He was now even more worried for Yolei and Izzy. He wasn't sure he understood how Kari could _"feel" _this presence of darkness, but what she said had confirmed his earlier instincts—it couldn't be a just a coincidence that he was having a feeling that something bad was going to happen...something else was in there waiting for them...and now a friend in there he always respected, and another friend who recently had become closer to thanks to coming here to the Digital World—were in in the same place...unprotected...with this unknown dark presence.

Suddenly Kari's eyes widened and she let out a gasp...she nearly dropped to her knees but Tai and Davis grabbed her by the arms at the same time, for obvious fear that she was about to pass out. She just stared at the ground in wide-eyed horror for a tense minute. There was no doubt that everyone's nerves were growing more frantic by the second as the dead silence continued.

"I...I saw something." Kari finally answered in the thick silence.

"What is it Kari?" Sora asked and there was a slight pause, Kari seemed hesitant, as if she wasn't sure how to word it.

"Kari...what did you see?" Tai continued after Sora spoke.

"T.K." Kari spoke up, "T.K. you and Angemon have to go in there after them!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Davis asked as the hairs on his neck stood up, everyone was feeling a sense of dread, they probably all begun to have the same bad feeling about this all.

"Are Izzy and Yolei in trouble?" Matt prodded.

"No—not Izzy—I think he's okay. Yolei is alright too...for now. Something...something is going to happen...something is going to happen to Yolei. T.K. the other dark presence is going to attack her! I don't know how to explain it, but...I know it will happen it! Angemon is the only other one who can stand up to it besides Angewomon!" Kari was now frantic. "You have to go to her! Before—"

But Kari never got the chance to finish, T.K. had already run off, and shouting at Angemon to follow. T.K. never realized that he could run that fast—but that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to Yolei in time.

* * *

><p>"T.K., what's going on?" Angemon flew by his human partner who had dashed through the halls at a top speed, T.K. was very unsettled and anxious about something.<p>

"Kari said...that something is going to attack Yolei...some dark entity other than LadyDevimon is here—we have to hurry!" T.K. looked up at Angemon with fear in his eyes.

"In that case," Angemon picked up T.K. and placed the blond preteen on his back, "If we need to hurry we must get there as quickly as possible, time is of the essence."

"Thanks Angemon." T.K. took this chance to catch his breath.

Angemon flew at top speed. T.K. glanced down at his digivice, and found the dots that indicated where Izzy and Yolei are. T.K. couldn't have help but feel a growing panic that twisted around in his insides.

The forces of darkness always seemed to conspire to take away or ruin anything that T.K. had ever cared about. He had never forgotten how helpless he felt as he watched Angemon disintegrate after the battle with Devimon. He never voiced it, but it always lingered in his nightmares, for that brief moment he thought he had lost Angemon forever.

Then other Digimon tried to take over or destroy this Digital World that he'd grown to love so much; Etemon, the Dark Masters...and he could never forget how Myotismon tried to cloak their home world in his darkness and conquer it. He created so much fear; he had hurt and separated so many families. Apocalymon was a bundle of distorted data that had grown in darkness and had they not stopped him would have nearly destroyed two worlds.

Darkness was what kept pushing Matt away from them when the Dark Masters had twisted and distorted the Digital World, and from what he heard from Matt and Gabumon, it nearly claimed his brother too.

Darkness was what was putting this Digital World to ruin. All thanks to these _Dark Ones..._

Darkness was the reason their original digivices were broken and their crests destroyed...

Darkness nearly claimed his new friend, Ken's life, in an effort to protect T.K...

Darkness nearly claimed Yolei and Mimi earlier before Yolei's crest activated...

And now it seemed something of Darkness once again was going to make an attempt on Yolei again...

But Kari was right...he and Angemon could do something about it...he promised himself he'd never let the darkness claim anything he ever cared about ever again, not as long as he was alive.

"_Hang on, Yolei...!_"

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**A Note From The Beta-LithiumRukia:**

**Hey, I'm the beta. It would literally take me hours and hours if I wanted to dissect every sentence for spelling/grammar/wording issues- not that it's entirely Erin's fault btw, I'm just extremely particular about stuff like that. So anyway, needless to say, there's probably still quite a few of those kinds of problems that I have missed as I've been editing this thing. I figure that's not the point though, after all, this is more of a fun-loving adventure story if anything so I don't think it has to be the very image of perfection in that sense.**

**I don't interfere at all with her general plot btw, just the boring side of things XD**

**Anyway, much lurve to all and I'm proud that Erin's fic has become this big. You will probably see my reviews under all manner of weird, raunchy and hopelessly ridiculous usernames but hey, the little things amuse me.**

**A Note From The Author:**

**Despite how prudish I can be sometimes, I can't help but find all the amusing names you come up with in your reviews my beta are hilarious they crack me up every time XD. Anyways...**

**I bet some of you are wondering when Joe, Ken and Cody are going to show up again...in due time, I promise. We just have to get this big battle out of the way first :)**

**Also, I promised you guys action, so I hope I did a good job on it that it delivered well and it satisfied all you wonderful loyal readers (who I can't stress enough I'm freaking grateful for, because this story I don't think would of made it this far without this much support! You guys are awesome :D) More action, soon to come, as well in the following chapters ;)**

**So yeah, once again, if you forget what a Digimon looks like...Digimon wiki is your friend...lol.**

**So yeah...you can't have LadyDevimon and Angewomon in the same story without a catfight happening...that's like a Digimon Adventure rule XD (and man it never gets old, it will _always_ be hilarious).**

**Now, in the series both Adventure and 02 seemed to establish that Kari was very unique to the other Digidestined. Adventure seemed to establish that Kari can hear things that some people can't, and if Digimon have no strength to digivolve, she is LITERALLY a human battery and can lend other Digimon (not just her own) her energy to help them digivolve. 02 seemed to establish that Kari can purify or heal darkness inflicted types of injuries or at least expel darkness (in the Dark Ocean episode, they asked Kari to remove the dark rings, the dark rings were hurting the creatures, and no normal human can remove them, but Kari...could...even though in the 02 canon this is long established AFTER her crest was destroyed.) Kari could even "sense" dark presences at times too-as was established in season 02.  
><strong>

**So I'm going to establish that yes Kari is unique and for some interesting reason seems to have actual powers both in and out of the Digital World, with or without a crest. I added the _"vision"_ power, because I just think it would be cool (and would kind of make sense-in some cultures, light symbolizes more than just "good" or "truth" it sometimes symbolizes that one has the ability to "see" if you will) if Kari's _"Light"_ power could also _at times mind you _give her _"Seer"_ powers (aka foresight). **

**(Though I will admit the other part of the reason for doing this was because I've been re-watching a lot of Escaflowne lately.)**

**Also if you were wondering where that LadyDevimon/Angemon tones were coming from...I blame my friends Amy and Sa-chan for being LDMxAM crack shippers. It was mostly a ship tease I did for them ;)...but I will admit I always found Holy Man/WomanxDemonic Woman/Man types of pairings very fascinating...everyone has to admit on some level they are at least intrigued whether they hate these kind of ships or not.**

**Yes I made her slightly flirtier...None of the other girls seemed pleased by this though XD (Poor Davis...it's okay, you're not puny, you're just young...you'll grow someday, lol.) But I felt it would fit in her character (in her design aspect I mean) and I didn't want her to be exactly like the other LadyDevimon's of before. Similar sure, but slightly different.**

**I also want to apologize, I know...this chapter, sure took me a while to update. Well I've been job hunting for a while (and car hunting because my old car that was my dad's, that he gave to me, died forever...R.I.P. Year 2000 Audi T_T) Then I finally found a job! (Cashier)...and let me tell you...it's been kinda busy with the holiday season around the corner (OMG Black Friday! O_O), I have been working a lot lately, so yay I get more hours which means more money! (But at the same time, it did set me behind schedule for finishing this chapter-though I have a job now! Hooray!) And my parents found an awesome car for me that my sister's father in law got in a car auction! :D (My parents paid him back, and now I have to save up my money and pay them back half of it since that was our deal). But other than being busy at work...there were other reasons for me sorta kinda putting this off. One...I was for a while in a non-writing funk. **

**I knew exactly what I wanted to write down...but I just didn't feel ANY motivation what-so-ever to write! (it sucked! DX) Two...I got into this really awesome Code Geass Fanfic called "Dauntless" and...I've re-read that thing (mostly just some of my favorite chapters) so many dang times in my spare time (that I usually use to write or jot down some ideas for fics...but yeah =_=) but...it's...SOOOO GOOD! One of the best Code Geass (heck one of the best in general) fanfics I've ever read! I was hooked on it! And I also wrote some new posts on my Live Journal (Digimon related ones) (Also I have the same username on my LJ as I do here on FF...f.y.i), when...yeah I could have been writing this instead. And then of course...to make matters worse...Sonic Generations and Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword just came out recently. HOLY CRAP THEY'RE SO MUCH FUN!**

**Yeah I was now playing these fun new games in my designated free time instead of...WRITING! (smacks self) **

**But can you blame me? I mean the other stuff...maybe...yeah sure...but these games are freaking awesome! How could I not resist? lol**

**Second I want to apologize for this long author's note on the bottom of the chapter...but I feel the need to get something out of the way. Usually I just pm these responses to people (and I have)...but a friend of mine told me I should just post this, out in the open, for all to see so that way in hopes it could prevent other stuff in the future. (probably futile...but whatever)**

**I thank you all for your reviews, comments, compliments and advice. The majority of everyone has been so wonderful! And I'm glad to share my piece of imagination and love in relation to Digimon with fellow fans like me who obviously care a lot about this series. (Digimon means a lot to me, it actually taught me very important principals as a child, and it just connected with me other shows hadn't...but that's off topic)**

**Now I'm not going to name names or single anyone out. But there are some comments that have appeared that I have addressed (or deleted because of a few trolls) or need to be appropriately addressed for something I feel is either rude or disrespectful. (or just an oddball comment for one in particular)**

**There are 3 people here who have been very civil even though they admit they ship Takari. They do not bash Davis or Daikari...and for that I thank them. You have all shown maturity and respect that makes me feel delighted that people can find my story enjoyable even if it doesn't have all the ships they ship and gives me a great deal of respect for the Takari fandom...but...**

**There are those few rotten apples who just want to ruin it for the other nice Takari fans now don't they? Just a memo, pm'ing the author of a story, nothing but flames about how my story sucks because it doesn't have Takari, or how Davis sucks or Daikari sucks or Miyakeru sucks doesn't win you any points. It's not going to magically make me jump ships and ship Takari, it's not going to make me change my mind and put in Takari in my fic instead, and it certainly doesn't make me think you are mature or respectable that I should even care to give you the time of day. It also makes your fandom look bad. Do your fandom a favor and respect that other people have different opinions. It doesn't matter if something is fanon or canon, everyone has different tastes and they love what they love. This also goes to that lovely Sorato diehard who sent me that wonderful flame that Taiora and Mimato and Joumi sucks, and then spewed other things I will not repeat (though if you are going to throw profanities at me, at least spell them right, you aren't even trolling properly).**

**Bottom line, everyone likes what they like. I wanted this story to have yes ships in it, but I didn't want the romance to be the focus, I wanted it to be done well enough that it either doesn't bother other people who ships different things and they just love the story, or it actually makes them think the interaction is decently handled even IF they don't agree with the pairing. My focus isn't romance, it's the plot and these characters and their growing bonds, and the battle between good and evil. Romance is one small part of that puzzle. If the fact there is a couple in here that you don't like honestly bothers you that much, then nothing is stopping you from not reading. I won't be offended if you don't like my story or choice in pairings. Go on and move on to other fanfics that are more suited to your tastes...I don't mind at all, in fact I encourage it! Love what you love! But being a troll is just immature and comes off as childish, selfish, and petty when you flame an author and bash them and the characters or the pairings they love just because there is something you don't like in the fanfic. **

**Saying "my pairing is better" and it "makes more sense because (insert whatever) compared to your pairing, it sucks because (insert whatever)" and "Character A and Character B don't belong together! Character A and Character C belong together! How can you not see that you retard!" isn't going to convince me to agree with you at all. I like what I like period. If you want to know why I think certain pairings do and don't work then I'd be happy to have a CIVIL discussion in a pm...I don't need to justify why I like something in a fanfic, I shouldn't have to explain myself or my tastes! I read some stories that have Taiora, with Mimi(whoever she's shipped with because she's the shipping bicycle girl) and Takari and sometimes even Kenyako on the side. I don't question why the author has Takari or Kenyako...they like what they like, it's not my place to question it or try to convince (or flame) them otherwise.**

**I'm going to write what I want guys. I may not own the anime, but this is still my fanfic.**

**This oddball comment came from a comment that I deleted because...well...I'll let it speak for itself. They criticized that Cody's crest should be "Humbleness" instead of "Humility"...uhhh? **

_-Humility [hyoo-mil-i-tee] noun_

_the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc. -_

**Moving on...**

**This goes back to flames...flaming me about why Ken isn't the Digimon Emperor or "where are the armor digieggs?" or hassling me with questions CONSTANTLY about when I'm going to update, or to spoil certain plot points is not going to get you what you want.**

**This story says even in the summary that it's slightly AUish, so expect me to do things differently...also keep in mind just because things aren't the same in the canon doesn't mean certain things won't appear at all in the future, I might throw in elements that existed in the 02 canon-from a DIFFERENT angle. **

**I'll update when I update. Hassling me to update doesn't make me want to sit down and write, in fact it makes me want to AVOID doing it because it makes writing become a chore eventually...and I obviously started on this fic for fun and pleasure for not just the people who read it, but myself. And turning a hobby I love (writing) into a chore does not make the experience enjoyable! (heck some of the reasons I didn't get started on this chapter right away at first was because I was so annoyed with the messages I was getting of "when are you going to update!" CONSTANTLY!) And also...no, I'm not going to spoil important plot points or spoil you. **

**Yes some close friends of mine get some spoilers and even one of my readers here became what I consider a respectable friend (as far as internet friends go) so I gave her a few MINOR spoilers out of respect for our friendship...however I'm not going to reveal everything to just anyone, heck not even some of my friends. Some of my friends only know bits and pieces of what I am planning. My beta...who has been spoiled the most (because she's a close friend and my beta editor) in comparison to the very select _few_ I've given a _few_ spoilers, knows little in comparison to what I have planned and what's in store.**

**Most normal authors never spoil important plot points to their fans, and I don't see why I have too! Just read the story, and you'll find out! The fact that I'm even giving the few spoilers I give to my friends is gracious on my part, but I only gave out those few spoilers in respect for our friendship (that and I wanted a second opinion if some of my ideas were good ideas) But everyone including the beta has to read to find out what I have planned too. So yeah...if even the beta doesn't get the whole story, who I consider a close friend, then there is no way a stranger on the internet who happens to read my story is going to get the details on my whole fic.**

**If I spoiled everything then there would be NO POINT in me even writing this fanfic.**

**Lastly...I have put in cameos of characters from other Digimon seasons. I plan on having cameos (or at least shout outs) to other Digimon seasons/video games/mangas and shout outs to other plot points, characters, and ideas from other Digimon seasons/video games/mangas. That was something I totally decided to do by choice. This fanfic is from the Digimon Adventure universe...I shouldn't have to put in ANY of those cameos or other planned shout outs at ALL! The fact that I did it, was because one, I thought it would give the story more depth, as well as more connection, I am not a fan of all of the Digimon seasons, I've never gotten the chance to play any of the Digimon video games, and I've only read one chapter of one of the Digimon mangas...but I know there are people out there who are. I wanted this to be...sort of like a, as they call it, "Easter egg" or "goodie" or "treat" for those fans who are fans of those any other Digimon medias I'm either not a fan of or familiar with. **

**I love it when movies or TV shows do that, referencing something else that is outside of your work that a fan has a familiarity with, gives the audience a sense of connection. In other words, I solely did it just because I wanted to make your reading experience more enjoyable when I didn't have to do that at all. So griping at me repeatable through message (you know who you are) because "_(insert character) or (insert character)_" wasn't put in a cameo somewhere after seeing these other cameos, rude. **

**That's totally rude. First off, be patient, just because they aren't here now doesn't mean they won't cameo later. Second, I won't put in ANY CHARACTER anywhere when it feels like it wouldn't fit, even if a cameo...even cameos I feel have to have purpose, I'm not just going to be like "Oh hey look its that character from that season", this isn't crappy "Disaster Movie" which just does nothing but references pop cultural references when it doesn't fit, or make any sense in context (and every other movie made by those crappy directors...look it up if you haven't heard of it, but please don't go see it, trust me, don't waste any IQ levels on those movies) and move along like whatever...all my cameos have some sort of purpose, even if it feels like they have little to NOTHING with the plot, they must absolutely fit into the scenario I've placed with the cameo. **

**Second, the fact that I'm even going to give shout outs and cameos to other seasons that I don't like (and maybe even go as far as to say hate), plot points or characters I might hate that could possibly appear, and some point in the near future giving shout outs and cameos from things in the video games and mangas when I'm not really familiar with any of them...is REALLY gracious on my part!**

**I could be what most normal people would of done in my position and only nitpick on what they like, think is good, and what they are familar with. But I intend to insert things from ALL Digimon media at some point in this story (or at least be reference). But this is my fanfic-most writers can do whatever the flip they want with their story-it's their call the audience has no say, heck they don't even have to give one crap about what the audience wants to see or cares about...however, while I normally say, "This is my story and I'll write it how I want", I actually CARE about my readers enough that I want to give them all something they'd probably want to see.**

**I do not insert pointless cameos for the sake of being filler fanservice. Heck, all this stuff is fanservice (of the non-sexual variety), but its actual fanservice that has real connection and purpose to the fans of those anime seasons/games/mangas. It's never just pointless, I always have to do things for a reason. So seriously, if you want a favorite character in here, I suppose a harmless pm just asking me politely if they will show up is fine...but hassling me through pm-CONSTANTLY (no seriously, sending me messages and harping me about this almost like once a chapter, are you kidding me?) is just plain tacky, and commenting on it in the same vein in a review, still feels kinda tacky. **

**If I truly want to work hard to aspire to make this Digimon fic a truly memorable great one, I feel it should embody the love of Digimon. Embracing every aspect of it, the good and the bad, no matter what fandom you come from. I wanted it to be a story that it didn't matter what you shipped, who your favorite character was, or what your favorite season of Digimon was, or even if you like the things that most people might hate or aren't familiar with, I wanted this to be a fanfic that embodies everything we love about Digimon!  
><strong>

**I don't know to me it just feels disrespectful...I'm pleased that a lot of you guys understand I'm really trying to do my homework on Digimon lore and history and mythology, and everything else in between, that I really want to make this something special. And I thank you for recognizing that. But some of you people need to realize, writing a fanfic isn't an easy thing. Sure anyone can write a fanfic, but not anyone can write a _good _fanfic...and do have any idea how hard it is to find a_ great_ fanfic, or even a _nearly perfect _fanfic! (that's rare!) I'm not saying I'm a brilliant writer, no, I'm still growing and learning. **

**And I only hope to continue to get better as I keep going on. But I want to do everything in my power to make this a fantastic Digimon fanfic, if not for everyone else, then at least for myself and the people who really love Digimon. So I'm not going to water down my fanfic for ANY reason! And please recognize, I'm not the only one, while there are certainly a lot of bad fanfics out there, there are also many gems in the sea of fanfiction waiting to be discovered. And people really do work at these fics to make them good (or great). **

**Be more observant and respectful, there is a lot of talent out there and those people deserved to be recognized. It bothers me so much that there are a few who do things like this, but it bothers me even more when I see this behavior in some reviewers and commenters in fics I think are 10 times better than anything I could ever write. Maybe you should stop and think for a second before you write anything, "Would I want someone to treat me this way?" Yes we humans aren't perfect, but that shouldn't excuse us for being immature, selfish, or disrespectful at times.**

**I mean it when I say I love Digimon. I don't want to write some crappy fic about a show I love, for something that means so much to me, I want to dedicate something to this show something really good. And I will continue to try making it into something I feel could be something great! **

**Again sorry for this long post at the end...but I felt I _had _to get this off my chest. Thanks for all the support you've all been giving me up until now, your words and support truly mean a lot to me.**

**Many thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia! :D**

**Reviews and/or Advice would be most appreciated :) (But flames will get eaten by Greymon)**

**Well till next time (I gotta update my Pokemon fic next...at some point...soon...I hope :(...lol XD), Ja ne!**


	17. Terrible Visions

**Chapter 17: Terrible Visions**

**Well what's up guys, 356 reviews eh? I know I said it before but I'll say it again, I freaking love you guys, you make me feel so special :D**

**(yes I know, no chapter intro this time...but bear with me, I've been getting kinda bored of doing the intro stuff over and over...so my beta did something new for us instead of an intro ;) isn't she awesome?)**

**I have been considering going back and re-writing/editing Chapters 1-15, just because I feel it could use some tweaking, and I feel the last chapters were really good, so the previous chapters I really want to reflect that.**

**Don't forget to read and review!**

**A/N: (also from here on I decided each chapter will either start with an excerpt from a song, or a quote from well really anything, that fits the chapter)**

* * *

><p><em>"Ah, ah,<br>We come from the land of the ice and snow,  
>From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.<br>How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore,  
>Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords.<em>

_On we sweep with threshing oar,_

_Our only goal will be the Western shore..._

_So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,_  
><em>For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing."<em>

**_—Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin_**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

Yolei shut off the Digital Barrier on her digivice as Izzy closed the door to the curious old room with the rather large old computer which looked like something out of an old, science fiction movie. It was very big—Yolei estimated it to be about seventy-five or eighty inches in width and length.

It had three different sets of counters in front of the large monitor which made it look a bit like an organ. The top one was a keyboard which had letters, characters, and numbers from all sorts of different languages...from English to one they were both familiar with—Japanese, to all other sorts that Yolei honestly didn't recognize.

The one in the middle, looking directly out of something in one of those Sci-Fi movies, had switches you could pull, twist and push (there were four of these levers—or switches as you would call them, Yolei counted). Additionally, there were all sorts of colored buttons. Some had different shapes- there were circular buttons, and square-shaped ones. One weird thing she noticed was a star-shaped button. These buttons had sorts of weird symbols she'd never seen before on any computer in her life.

The strangest thing, perhaps, was the bottom shelf of this three part, organ-like machine. This bottom shelf was a keyboard—but not one like the ordinary type which came with a computer. It was the instrumental kind.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the last of the tissues that T.K. had given to her on File Island, and quickly dusted off the buttons, keys, switches, and well...piano keys.

Izzy glanced underneath the machine, knocking away some cobwebs while he was at it and searched around until he found exactly what he needed.

"Prodigious!" He exclaimed.

The red-haired boy pulled out his laptop and cable from his back-pack connected the two computers with the chord and turned his portable machine on.

"Alright, this thing seems pretty old; let's see if it's still turn on." He stated as he typed away on his keyboard.

Sure enough, the old machine's screen did start to come on—a plain, black screen with white codes of letters and numbers flashed across it.

"Alright! It's working! Izzy, can you find out what it does?" Yolei peeked at the screen of Izzy's lap top from behind him.

"Already on it, Yolei." He continued to type, "I'm hacking into its system, not only to find out to see what it does, but also to see if everything is properly working as well."

After about ten minutes, he tapped on Yolei's shoulder, gesturing towards the screen.

"Alright, it would take up too much time to try and figure out everything on this mainframe, but I think I have most of the basic information we need right now at this minute." He stated.

Yolei sat up straight and ready to listen and he just grinned, setting down his backpack and digivice and pointing at the ever-constant programs and data banks he'd hacked into which had continued to upload and shuffle through.

"Apparently there is another computer here, which is more or less a back-up computer that helps control the power of this fortress. It seems that other one is the one that has constantly been used while this one has been neglected." Izzy began to explain.

"Wait, so this is the main computer, and you're telling me there's also some back-up one, and they both control the power?" Yolei blinked.

"Correct. The reason this place can float, and move and do anything at all...everything is controlled by either of these two computers. For whatever reason, our enemies haven't been using this one. They've just been using that back-up one that's somewhere around here."

"Interesting, I wonder why that is..." She scratched her chin.

"Well, whatever the reason is, it's a good thing for us, because it probably means they don't know half of the other things this place has and can do." Izzy grinned.

"So let me get this straight, so the back-up computer is only—"

"Right. It's only used for back-up control of the power that keeps this place moving. But this one has so many other functions in addition to that. For example..." Izzy then typed away as twelve different viewing screens popped up on the one large monitor.

"There are security cameras all over this place," He toggled through and switched each of twelve screens to different rooms and hallways, "Hmmm, yep, from the data banks, it looks like there are in total of three-hundred and thirty-six cameras. And just our luck—all of them are still working!"

"That's fantastic!" Yolei exclaimed.

"It gets better; this place is rigged with all sorts of booby traps set up for potential invaders, not to mention all sorts of other weapons to defend itself against an attack from outside forces." He grinned even wider.

"Are you _serious?_ Weapons and booby traps too?" Yolei was becoming more ecstatic by the minute.

"There is a slight problem though; it seems some of them are still offline, or have some slight malfunctions and glitches. I'm downloading a list of them now, and how I can fix each problem." Izzy glanced at the words, numbers and codes that flashed across his illuminated screen.

Yolei took this time to examine the room, and noticed that there was a door on the other side of the room, presumably opening into a closet, and a small table in the corner with something on top of it. She picked herself off the floor and trotted over to the little, dusty table only to discover what looked like a toolbox.

"Perfecto!" She shouted, Izzy just glanced up at her curiously.

"Hey Izzy, I bet I might be able to fix some of the problems," She held up the toolbox, "Just get me the blueprints and tell me what to do, and we'll see if most of this can be fixed with some good ol' fashioned tinkering!"

"That's a good idea! Hang on," Izzy pulled up the blueprints in a separate window and toggled back and forth between it and the list of everything that needed to be turned back on or fixed.

He then frowned, noticing that some of the items would need parts. He quickly went through the computer's memory to see if spare parts might be lying close by.

"Got it!" Izzy exclaimed, discovering that all the extra parts they would need to replace anything were indeed there—they were stored in the closet in that very room! "Yolei, go into that closet, I have a list of some parts and wires that I'll need you to get if it isn't too much trouble."

"Trouble? Please, you're looking at the girl who took apart our family's fossil of a computer and put it back together with relative ease when she was not a day over the tender age of nine years!" Yolei boasted.

Izzy smiled, "Well then, I guess I'll leave it in your capable hands."

Yolei felt her cheeks get slightly warm after that comment, seeing him smile, but she just giggled and nodded her head to shake it off.

"Alright, which one should I start on first, Izzy?"

* * *

><p>"Darkness Ray!"<p>

DarkLizardmon fired a large laser blast from his mouth. Greymon pushed Tai and Matt behind him with his tail, as he charged his own fireball, and released it from his mouth.

"Nova Blast!"

The two attacks collided and neutralized each other. Tai and Matt motioned for the Kari, Sora and Davis to follow them over to the fortress, as they knew the others were too close to the battle.

LadyDevimon and Angewomon were still engrossed in their—as Tai put it—_"catfight"_. Rather than using the usual special attacks that Digimon have, the two were still punching, kicking, scratching, slapping, and pulling each other's hair.

ExVeemon struggled to escape as the RedVegiemon wrapped itself around the large blue-winged creature. Garurumon jumped on Golemon's back, his mouth glowing as he readied his attack, but Golemon beat him to the punch as the stacks on its back began to glow and then fired sulfuric gases at Garurumon.

"Sulfur Plume!"

Garurumon collapsed to the ground, hacking and coughing between each sharp intake of breath.

"Garurumon!" Matt cried out, as Tai held him back.

"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon shouted.

Her green blast slammed into the Minotarumon, the large bull-like monster falling to its knees. The creature then aimed its arm cannon at Lillymon, as a blast of rapid fire attacks shot out of the cannon-like appendage.

"Gatling Horns!"

Lillymon managed to dodge most of the attacks with success. She grinned at the angry creature.

"Come down here and fight me!" He roared.

"Nah, I don't think so." She smiled mischievously.

Okuwamon and MegaKabuterimon continued to be in an even struggle, as did Garudamon and Crowmon. They battled high up in the sky, hoping that they could keep these aerial battles as far away from their human companions as possible.

"Black Feather!" Crowmon yelled as razor sharp feathers flew off its wings at bullet-like speed.

"Garudamon, look out!" Sora cried.

Garudamon managed to dodge a few of them, but couldn't dodge all of the feathers for they were too fast for her. She endured what she could, Sora constantly on her mind the entire time. As Crowmon heard Sora's voice crying out to her Digimon, and prepared to attack the human children below, Garudamon's wings began to envelop in fire. There was no way she was going to allow this creature to harm her human companion.

"_Do not fear Sora, I'll protect you and your friends._"

She flapped her wings as hard as she could, faster and faster, until the fire shot off her own body, and began to morph into a small twister of flames. It then aimed itself for the enemy bird Digimon.

"Fire Hurricane!" Garudamon screeched, as the encircling flames enveloped the black, bird creature.

Okuwamon charged at MegaKabuterimon and slammed into him. His front pinchers gripped the large, red, beetle Digimon.

"Double Scissor Claw!" The creature squeezed its pinchers around MegaKabuterimon's neck.

* * *

><p>"Yolei! Did you get some of those outer defenses up and running yet?" Izzy's voice was slightly frantic.<p>

"Mostly. Got the other stuff operational, and a few weapons and booby traps up and running...but there is still a lot to take care of...why?" She crawled out from under the monitor, wiping some of the dust off her cheeks and shirt.

Izzy pulled up a surveillance video up on the main huge monitor of the battle going on outside for Yolei to see. Some of the Digimon were okay for the most part but others were struggling in their battles. Yolei let out a panicked gasp as she saw Phantomon slash Hippogriffmon with his sickle blade.

"Yolei, are any of them operational yet?" Izzy continued again, his eyes fixated on MegaKabuterimon struggling to get out of Okuwamon's grasp.

"There should be cannons, I think I have a couple up and running, if you need me to tinker with some more quickly I can—"

"There's no time, we'll make due with what we have for now." Izzy interrupted and typed at rapid speed on his laptop keyboard.

Yolei looked at the screen, anxiety bubbling up inside her, before glancing back at the redhead, who was focused on his computer.

"Alright, let's cross our fingers, Yolei and see if all your tinkering has paid off." He gave her a small nod, immediately slamming down on the space bar.

Their eyes were glued to the screen. It got dead silent. Yolei almost let out a scream and was about to hit herself, for it seemed like after all her fixing and tinkering, nothing was working. But just before she did, they saw three large cannons pop out of the ground by the shambled gate. They noticed Mimi become visibly freaked out briefly over the large cannons that popped out, startling her, while Davis screamed and gushed about how _"cool" _this was.

"Perfecto!" Yolei exclaimed.

Izzy smiled at the younger girl, and then typed in a few more letters and numbers, and the cannons began to move in different angles and directions. He hit the space bar three times and spiky, rusty cannon balls fired out at rapid speed. One crashed into Okuwamon, one into Phantomon, and the other into Golemon. They noticed that ExVeemon used the confusion to get himself out of the RedVegiemon's grasp, and sent the other Digimon flying with a hard kick.

"Alright! Nice aiming there, Izzy!" Yolei jumped excitedly.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without your help, Yolei. You've got quite the talent for this." Izzy gave her a small nod and grin. She blushed and turned back to the screen, Izzy just sitting there, a bit puzzled by her behavior.

"_Izzy is such a cool guy, and he thinks I'm talented too!_" She mentally gushed, but then was distracted by her thoughts when she noticed something missing on the screen from the battle in front of them.

"Hey Izzy...where are T.K. and Angemon?" She blinked.

"You're right...they're not there at all. Where could they be?" He looked down at his digivice to check for everyone's location. He could see himself and Yolei, as well as the others outside, but one of the dots that was moving and that just had to be T.K.

"I think he's somewhere inside the fortress."

"Inside this place? Why?" Yolei stepped closer to the redhead.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Hang on, let me pull up some of the surveillance cameras and see if I can find him." Izzy typed away some more, multiple screens popped up all over the computer showing all the rooms and hallways of the fortress.

Eventually they spotted him and Angemon. T.K. was on the back of Angemon who was moving so rapidly that the cameras could barely keep up with him. However, in spite of Angemon's speed, Yolei still noticed the distressed look on the blond boy's face.

"Something's wrong..." Yolei mumbled, "I'm gonna go find out what" She then spoke up louder.

"What?"

"There's something wrong, I can see it in T.K.'s face. He obviously knows something we don't. I'm going to go find him." Yolei said.

"It's not safe to go out by yourself, not when we're in enemy territory. Besides, there are still a few things that I need your help—"

But Izzy noticed he was too late, Yolei already ran out the door.

"At least turn on your Digital Barrier if you're going to run off!" Izzy shouted after her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine! All the bad guys are out there fighting anyways!" Yolei shouted back.

Before Izzy could call out to her again, he heard a loud bang coming from the large computer. He enlarged the screen of the surveillance outside, to see that Phantomon had destroyed all the cannons. On the plus side, it seemed that ExVeemon destroyed RedVegiemon for good.

Izzy figured the best he could do was to keep an eye on the battle and Yolei and T.K. and see what other defense systems Yolei might have managed to fix before she had taken off.

"What a mess..." He sighed.

* * *

><p>"Something else is coming our way." Kari whispered.<p>

"Huh, whaddaya mean Kar—?" Davis was soon interrupted as the wall behind the six Digidestined practically exploded.

Matt somehow managed to grab onto Mimi, Tai and Sora, throwing them to the ground. Kari likewise pulled Davis back away immediately. But they soon realized as they saw the towering Digimon before them, just what sort of trouble they were in, SkullMeramon seemed very pleased that the kids were now separated from their Digimon companions, which had no choice but to continue fighting.

"Six little, tiny humans and nothing standing in my way to crush them all...that's no fun. Where is the challenge? Oh well..." He laughed maliciously as he eyed Matt, Tai, Sora and Mimi.

Davis frantically looked around for something to throw. He noticed a pretty decent sized rock, and chucked it straight into the back of the large Digimon's head. It didn't do any significant damage to the Ultimate level, but he let out an irritated growl, and scratched his head, turning to face the person who had thrown it.

"Davis?" Sora blinked.

"Hey Ugly! Remember me?" Davis stuck his tongue out at SkullMeramon.

"Davis, what do you think you're doing?" Tai demanded.

"Come on, ya big, dumb, ugly, brute—too chicken to fight the big monsters, so you attack some kids, huh? What a wussy." Davis mocked, smacking his butt before running off, continuing to mock SkullMeramon all the way, "Bet you're slow on top of being a coward!"

"Is he crazy?" Matt yelled.

"Oh, I was so hoping I'd get my chance to kill you, Brat. But it seems you really do have a death wish. I'm so happy to oblige!"

"ExVeemon!" Davis shouted.

"I gotcha Davis!"

ExVeemon grabbed Davis and flew high into the air, dodging each of SkullMeramon's flame attacks.

"What's the matter, stupid, can't hit us?" Davis yelled, flipping the metal faced Digimon off.

"So what's the plan, Davis?" ExVeemon asked.

"Just keep dodging and distracting him like this. We gotta keep his attention off the others for a bit... at least 'til they can get somewhere safe."

"Do you really think we can hold that hothead off for that long, though?"

"I honestly have no idea, but we gotta try. They came here to save me, so now it's my turn to help them out." Davis smiled down at his fellow teammates.

* * *

><p>Kari dropped to her knees, closing her eyes as tightly as she could, her whole body trembling like a tree blown in a wind storm. Tai rushed to his sister's side immediately, stroking the back of her head. It was something his mother used to always do when Kari had a nightmare. It always seemed to calm her down. He knew it probably wouldn't calm her down now...but he couldn't just stand there and do nothing but watch his sister, not when she was like this.<p>

"Tai..." She practically whimpered so softly that he almost didn't hear her.

"What's the matter?"

"Why do I keep seeing these terrible things?"

"Kari...I...I don't understand." Tai was at a loss for words. He felt so helpless, he couldn't comprehend what Kari had been experiencing, nor did he know how to help her cope with it.

"It's all my fault, I was seeing horrible things about to happen to Yolei...and now, T.K. is going to get hurt because I told him to go save her." Kari whispered out weakly.

"What?"

"Oh no...no...stop, make it stop! I don't want to keep seeing my friends get hurt!" Kari buried her face into her brother's chest.

"Kari..." Tai continued to stroke the back of her head, despite the chaos all around them, "_I wish there was something I could do to stop it, believe me._"

Kari then lifted her head and stared at Davis and ExVeemon who were constantly taunting SkullMeramon as they avoided its attacks. She looked out of it, though...like she was in a daze.

"Kari?" Tai was even more confused.

Her face then twisted into a horrified expression. She began to see ExVeemon get hurt badly, before de-digivolving back into DemiVeemon. Then, in her vision both he and Davis were surrounded by flames, trapped, with no way of escaping. And finally, the ground beneath them crumbled, as the two fell into darkness.

Kari let out a scream, as she saw repeated images of Davis falling into darkness and also of dark arms grabbing T.K. and darkness swallowing up Yolei. These images seemed to play over and over again in her head like a broken record. She grabbed the sides of her head, and screamed louder. Tai threw his arms around her, trying to comfort her with his words.

"Kari, it's going to be okay!"

"No...no it's not! They're all going to die! Why do I keep seeing these _horrible_ things? Why do I have to see such horrible things happening to my friends? Why?" She trembled in her older brother's embrace.

But they were interrupted as they heard Davis shout and noticed ExVeemon had been hit by one of SkullMeramon's chains.

"You stupid brat, did you think you could escape me, sorry to disappoint you...Flame Chain!" The chain ignited in a burst of flames, ExVeemon howled and crashed into the stony floor.

"ExVeemon!" Davis jumped off the Digimon's back, and ran to the other side of him, grabbing the Digimon's face, "Come on, Buddy, get up! I know you can do it!"

"Don't worry Davis...this is nothing." ExVeemon boasted through gritted teeth, as he knocked off the chain that had wrapped around his wing, the burn mark making it as clear as day that ExVeemon wouldn't be flying any time soon.

"Oh no..." Kari muttered.

ExVeemon charged at SkullMeramon, who fired a large fireball from its mouth.

"Metal Fireball!"

The fireball slammed into ExVeemon's head, knocking him backwards. SkullMeramon charged forward, wrapped ExVeemon in the chains, and used his "Flame Chain" attack once more, but this time ExVeemon was engulfed in fire. Davis and the rest of the Digidestined could do nothing but watch in horror, powerless to stop it.

"ExVeemon...no..._stop it!_" Davis shouted.

SkullMeramon halted his attack for a brief moment, and eyed the goggled preteen. Davis's hands were clenched into fists and they trembled as he glared at the metal faced Digimon. SkullMeramon let out a snort, and released ExVeemon from the chains only to grab him by the face, and continued slamming ExVeemon's head over and over _and over _into the hard stone floor brutally.

"I said _stop!_ Leave him alone! _Monster!"_ Davis screamed.

"Or you'll do what, Child?" He laughed as the auburn-haired boy growled. "But if you want your partner so badly, you can have him."

He slammed the injured blue champion Digimon one more time into the ground, before he launched the large champion at Davis.

"Here, catch, little whelp."

ExVeemon's body shrank and glowed red, getting smaller and smaller. Davis caught the little glowing body that was thrown at him. His jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened with alarm as he noticed the light fade. The body he held was that of DemiVeemon and Davis couldn't believe that ExVeemon had lost so much power that he had de-digivolved all the way back to In-Training.

"Oh my, it seems I really did a number on your partner...I guess I got carried away." SkullMeramon chuckled.

"No...it's happening...just like..._no!_" Kari ripped herself out of Tai's grip without even thinking.

"Kari, come back! Where are you going?" Tai exclaimed. "Kari!"

She continued to fun as fast as she could, straight towards the goggled preteen. The only thing on her mind was the horrible things she had been seeing, and how she certainly did not want any of them to come true. Davis didn't even notice her until she grabbed onto his arm.

"Kari? What are you doing over here? You gotta get away! This guy is—"

"No, we're getting away! Right now!" She yanked on his arm, to pull him to run away with her.

But soon as they turned to run, a wall of flames appeared in front of them. They tried to run the other way, but a wall of flames appeared there too. They turned around to see SkullMeramon, as he created another wall of flames right behind him. They were completely trapped, the only place that wasn't burning with a wall of fire was at the edge of the fortress. They found themselves there, right at the edge...but running off of it would be only be a death sentence in itself.

Kari heard Tai and the others on the other side, calling out to her, but they had no way to run in after them, not unless they wanted to burn to death. She felt a sense of panic rush through her veins, everything she had seen...was starting to happen for real. And there was no way out.

All of their Digimon were too busy battling the other Digimon. There was no way the LadyDevimon would let Angewomon come to their rescue. T.K. and Yolei obviously had their own problems—she could sense that much. Tai and the others couldn't get to them, and DemiVeemon was out of the question, out cold in Davis's arms.

Kari felt Davis push himself in front of her, shielding her body with his own. She took that moment to look at him. He was staring into the face of SkullMeramon ever defiant, even now. But she noticed his hands still trembled, that's when she realized something...something she found hard to believe. Davis was afraid.

He was so scared, yet he was still doing this...

"Kari, no matter what happens...just promise me you'll run away, okay? I'm the one this monster wants the most right now. Maybe you'll be able to get away." Davis whispered. "And take DemiVeemon with you when you do, alright?"

She couldn't believe it. He was still trying to protect her—and now his injured Digimon now as well.

"No...I can't let you do this by yourself." She muttered, but her voice was so quiet that she wondered if Davis even heard her.

* * *

><p>Izzy felt like uttering a few <em>choice words<em> of some sort at this moment. Thanks to Phantomon, he was now in no position to help anyone. At least the other Digimon were briefly aided, but the battle was still raging on...and what was worse was that, Kari and Davis were now obviously in trouble with no one to get to them.

Angewomon tried to help them, but LadyDevimon wouldn't allow that. Those cannons had been were the only outer defenses out of everything he checked that Yolei had up and running. She got most of the inner booby traps and the intercom system up to speed again, but Izzy was still powerless to help Kari and Davis at that moment.

He knew he could always call Yolei back over through the intercom system and get her to see if she could fix up anything else, but there would be no time. Izzy knew that would be futile. All he could do was pray that somehow, Kari and Davis would make it out of this bind.

Speaking of Yolei, Izzy drew his attention back to one of the security cameras showing the hallway where Yolei sprinted onwards but he noticed her stop in her tracks, and turned up the audio to hear what she was saying.

"_I don't get it, according to my digivice, T.K. should be right here..._great!_ He's probably above me or below me or something! Stupid maze of a place, so frikkin huge too! Ugh! I wish I had a map or something in this dumb place! Agh!"_ Yolei's frustrated voice came through the speakers of the computer loud and clear.

Something else caught Izzy's eye though. Something that disturbed him. Yolei's shadow...it was..._moving_. And it had changed shape. It looked like...a devil...of some sort.

He let out a gasp, and quickly typed with each key, feeling the panic in the pit of his stomach grow by the minute. He typed in every code and the intercom system activated to the hallway Yolei was in.

Izzy noticed large long, demon-like arms come out from the shadow and reach out for the unsuspecting girl.

"Yolei! Look out behind you!" He screamed into the intercom.

She turned around immediately, and saw the arms, jumped back instantly and let out a scream.

* * *

><p>Yolei didn't have time to think about Izzy's voice as it blared through the hidden speakers. She immediately saw the large, monstrous arms reach for her. She jumped back, letting out a terrified scream.<p>

The figure slid out from the shadow on the wall, and in its place was a demonish-looking Digimon with long arms, a half black, half golden mask over its face and large red wings.

Her knees hit the ground so hard that was pretty sure she had scraped the skin.

But it wasn't too big of a deal. She could get up, and walk on them just fine, no sweat. She had bigger problems to worry about anyway.

"Look at what I found here, one of you Digidestined just came crawling to me, how lucky for me. Now it seems this will make things easier for me to lure him out... Though, I suppose what I should really say is, long time no see." His cold voice gave her chills.

"Lure him, _him_ who? And what do you mean 'long time no see'?" Yolei questioned.

"I'm wounded, Girl, you've forgotten me already? Well then allow me to introduce myself, my name is NeoDevimon." Although he tried to sound sincere, she knew he was anything but. His voice was smooth and cold...it reminded her of the belly of a snake.

"NeoDevimon? I don't think we've met at all." Yolei frowned, and tried to hide the fact that her knees were knocking.

"Oh come now, girl. It's even in my name—dead giveaway how we've met...besides, I'm sure you've been told, we Digimon never really die." It said in a fake-comforting tone.

But that last sentence made Yolei freeze where she stood. She held her breath for a moment when it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"That's impossible. We destroyed you...you...you can't be that same Devimon!"

* * *

><p>T.K. and Angemon halted when they heard the scream of a young girl echo through the hallways of the fortress. T.K. could tell that the sound had come from above him. He double-checked his digivice, and sure enough, there was Yolei, right on top. She was in trouble.<p>

"Angemon!"

Angemon nodded, and blasted the ceiling above them. "Hand of Fate!"

They flew through the hole in the ceiling immediately as it opened up. They noticed a strange devil looking Digimon, and the darkness that slithered out of the fingers of the Digimon. The darkness cloaked a figure in front of the devil-like creature...it was in the shape of a body—a small, human body.

"Yolei!" T.K. screamed in a panic.

"Angel Staff!" Angemon slammed his staff into the strings and webs of darkness, cutting it off from the body it was enveloping. He turned to the figure almost instantly, "Hand of Fate!"

The blast from Angemon's hand sent the Digimon straight into the wall. T.K. rushed to Yolei's side as the darkness faded away. She looked pale and frozen in fear. She didn't even notice T.K. was right by her until he shook her a bit.

"Yolei! Yolei, snap out of it!"

"T-T.K. Oh God! T.K.!" she wrapped herself tightly with her own arms and hunched over, "It was so dark and cold! I couldn't see or hear anything. I thought...I thought..."

"It's okay now, Yolei. Angemon and I are here. Don't worry. You..." he paused and noticed the blood stains on her skirt where her knees were, "Did that Digimon do that to you?"

"No, I jumped back, and slammed my knees down hard, but it's okay, I can walk." She shivered, despite her words.

"Don't worry, Yolei...you're safe now. Go back to where Izzy is, Angemon and I will deal with this Digimon." T.K. placed his hand on her shoulder.

"O...okay." She got to her feet and ran off, T.K. let out a sigh in relief that he had made it in time.

He hated feelings like "anger", "hate" and "fear". When those feelings entered his heart, he felt like he would always lose something important to him...or probably just as bad, lose control of his life...of himself. That wouldn't do himself or anyone he cared about, any favors. But he couldn't help but feel this anger burning into him when he saw how terrified Yolei was and when he thought about how she had been hurt.

Yolei was an energetic, peppy, (if somewhat kinda high-strung and crazy) girl. She should never look so terrified like that. But just as T.K. was about to order Angemon to digivolve, the figure laughed.

"What's so funny?" T.K. glared.

"I was planning on using your friend to get you to come to me, both of you, but luck, it seems, truly is on my side. Here, small one, you and Angemon came to me willingly all on your own. Revenge shall be mine indeed!" It cackled.

T.K. wanted to bark at the Digimon, demand to know just what he was going on about...but then he froze.

That Digimon...it called him...

"Small One"...

"_No...it can't be..._" T.K. thought to himself, in horror.

"From the look on your face I can see that you finally put it together. Yes, Small One, I have come back. The Dark Ones felt that I was still needed. Devimon has returned, but I'm far more powerful, you and Angemon should remember the name _NeoDevimon..._because it's what is going to spell both your deaths!"

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**FINALLY! Sorry about that, guys...life has been kinda crazy. What with work, and like 3 weeks ago my brother getting into a skateboarding accident that gave him a concussion (he's doing fine now though, he's practically almost perfectly recovered)**

**And I've been working on my Sora Takenouchi cosplay...**

**And I've sort of not been having the proper motivation to write this chapter =_=**

**I wouldn't call it a writer's block, I'd call it a motivation block! DX**

**But when I did try to write it down, I just felt it wasn't coming out right (no seriously I've deleted and re-written this chapter like 9 times these past like 3 months...stupid writer motivation block).**

**But here it FINALLY IS! So so SOOO sorry it took me this long to get out...I'll do better next time ^^; (but I have online classes this summer...and dang tumblr is so addicting, so I don't make any promises in it being fast updates, but definitely not 3 months wait of an update O_O SOOO SORRY!)**

**Once again, if you don't know what the Digimon looks like, Digimon wiki is your friend.**

**So if you guys were wondering if you saw a slight hint of Kouyako (IzzyxYolei)...yes...yes you did. I did that ship tease on purpose :P  
><strong>

**Also I have some awesome links you guys should check out!**

** hao-samafangirl .deviantart gallery /34961718 **

**My Sora Takenouchi Cosplay that I've been working on (I'm still waiting for the tag/crest and digivice, but it's practically done!) Just remove the spaces to check it out! And tell me what you think :D**

** hao-samafangirl. deviantart art /Let-s-Switch-Miyakeru-292174884**

**A VERY rough Miyakeru sketch that I did (first time I've drawn these two...or Digimon for that matter, I'm gonna go back in and clean it up...but check it out and tell me what you think please) Also still remove spaces for the link.**

**Okay...just keep removing spaces for each of these links XD**

** www. youtube watch?v= ee4f6_IH6Cw**

**Taiora AMV that I made that I hope you guys check out! :D**

** www. youtube watch?v= PwVOFiSIgiE**

**An awesome and hilarious amv that a friend made for me (Digimon video) for my birthday back in December! :D TOTALLY CHECK IT OUT! (Warning copious amounts of Mimato...lol)**

** www. youtube watch?v= OPCloPiXxtg &feature=relmfu**

**Another awesome video same said friend made...when Digimon meets Big Bang Theory, freaking hilarious. You guys should totally check it out!**

**Special thanks to LithiumRukia for continuing to be my awesome beta! :D**

**And with that I say, farewell until next time! **

**Don't forget to leave a review, and let me know what you think! (But flames will be eaten by Ogremon!)**

**Ja ne!**


	18. Empathy Discovers Her Courage

**Chapter 18: Empathy Discovers Her Courage**

**Note: Sup guys, yeah I understand it's been a while. Please keep in mind a few things. I had school, work work work, a car accident (I was pretty banged up, but no broken bones thankfully, I couldn't say the same for my old car :( my poor baby). An anime convention, more work, moving into a new apartment, starting up a new semester of school again, plus I started re-editing the previous chapters (I got up till chapter 4 done in the re-edits.) Plus I've been doing some requests and oneshots on the side. Also my computer crashed before I started up school again...(sigh) got a new one now though...and I decided I'm going to do a serious heavy revision of Chapters 1-15. So I'll be updating two chapters in a row. For those of you who can't review this chapter, either go on anon, or just review both the new chapters in the following chapter.**

**With that said, sorry for the wait, but here we go.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Everybody tells you from time to time<br>To never give up like a phrase from_ _a movie  
>They tell you to stand up for yourself<br>As if was always that easy"_

_**-Closer by Joe Inoue**_

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

A black aura surrounded NeoDevimon like a small blanket of fog. T.K. had a very bad feeling about it. He gripped his digivice tightly while gritting his teeth. He turned towards Angemon, who stood protectively in front of him.

"Angemon, you gotta—"

The air became colder and a loud cracking sound echoed through the hallways. The black fog transformed, took shape and multiplied, each piece of it morphing into small clones of Devimon, all just a foot shorter than T.K. Twenty or so of them crowded around NeoDevimon.

"Do you like it, Angemon, Small One? It's a new power my masters have granted me. While these may be mere projections and not as powerful as the genuine article...I assure you that their powers are quite real, and their strength is enough to keep you busy while I play around with Small One. But don't worry, you'll both get to die today, I won't make a mistake of leaving either one of you alive." He chuckled darkly.

All twenty of the small Devimon copies howled like hyenas, launching forward and tackling Angemon. They body slammed him through the hole in the ground that T.K. and Angemon had previously blasted through.

Angemon was overwhelmed. He was dragged off and T.K. could no longer see him. NeoDevimon was separating them...

"T.K. RUN!" Angemon's voice echoed from the hallways below.

The blond boy started to panic..."_Angemon can't digivolve if we're too far apart!"_

"Well, Child of Hope, it's time you and I have a little fun. Let's play a game of tag. Or if you like, hide-and-go-seek. It matters not which you prefer to play—just give me a fun chase before I kill you, Boy. I'll even let you have a head-start." He mocked.

T.K. growled. Yes, he was scared, but he hated Devimon, he _hated _Devimon so much.

He hated him for trying to hurt his friends when they first appeared. He hated him for separating the seven of them. He hated him for brainwashing innocent Digimon with his black gears. He hated him for trying to kill him. He hated him for taking Angemon away from him. He hated him for sending his minions out to try to kill his new friends. He hated him for nearly killing Ken. He hated him for trying to harm Yolei, and use her as bait.

And now... he planned on toying with Angemon and himself...he really hated him with every fiber of his being.

"One, two, three...boy, I'd be running if I were you...four, five, six..." NeoDevimon teased.

T.K. thought his teeth would have broken from how forcefully he clenched them together. He shut his eyes, turned around and ran.

He had to think of something. He had to stall time so he could stay alive long enough for Angemon to rescue him. He wouldn't believe for a second that "NeoDevimon" would win. He wasn't.

NeoDevimon would regret this.

* * *

><p>Izzy stared in horror at the computer screen in front of him.<p>

Angemon and T.K. were separated and this new Digimon—who looked an awful lot like Devimon—said something to T.K. about a head start and a chase...

Basically, T.K. was now totally defenseless.

Izzy pulled out the Digimon Analyzer on his laptop quickly as he placed his digivice into a slot. He managed to pull up some stats on the creature.

"NeoDevimon?" Izzy breathed.

His eyes widened as he read about the types of attacks this Digimon had. But that dark projection and multiplying—of those mini-Devimon—the stats didn't say anything about that, which meant he probably had some unknown powers that weren't even in the data banks!

_"T.K.'s in some real trouble. There has to be something..."_ Izzy thought as he wiped a single drop of sweat from his forehead.

As if a light bulb went off in his head, he quickly logged off the Digimon Analyzer and typed across the screen furiously. He just hoped his ideas would help buy T.K. some more time, at least until Angemon, or someone, got to him. He observed T.K. on one of the monitor screens, keeping track of each camera, watching for when T.K. would switch into view as he ran.

Izzy glanced at his digivice, observed where the dot that represented T.K. was headed, and pulled up separate screens of the blueprints of the fortress.

T.K. turned the corner and ran straight into a room. Inside were two doors and a old speaker on the top right side of the wall, a dusty security camera on the left, and nothing but dry, broken tables and chairs otherwise. Just as T.K. looked as if he was about to exit through the other door, Izzy typed as hastily as he possibly could, to see if he could hack into that speaker through the computer he was using now.

He witnessed a red light come out of the old speaker in the room. It caught T.K.'s eye and he stared at the cobwebbed speaker up on the wall, suspiciously. Izzy turned on the microphone on his computer, and hoped that it work like the intercom in the hallway he had used to warn Yolei before.

"T.K. can you hear me?" Izzy called out.

He noticed T.K.'s eyes filled with relief.

"_Oh Izzy, thank goodness, you had me startled for a second._" T.K. put his hand on his chest as he took a moment to catch his breath.

"You have time for that later. I want you to keep running, and then once you hide somewhere good, turn on your Digital Barrier on your digivice! Stay quiet, I'm going to try to see if I can slow that Digimon down with whatever booby traps Yolei managed to get back online. Now _go!_ Hurry!" Izzy ordered.

"_Right!_" T.K. immediately bolted out the other door.

"Alright...let's see what's operational." Izzy hastened the pace at which he typed the codes in.

NeoDevimon blasted through many of the booby traps that Izzy had put together. He blasted all of the hidden arrows, saws, rocks fell from the ceiling, axes, spikes, and darts to smithereens.

But Izzy wasn't done yet. He had to give T.K. as much time as possible.

"Hang in there T.K."

* * *

><p>Yolei ran and ran, panting the whole way; she didn't even notice the old, dirty green rug until she had tripped over it. She whined as she forced herself back up, her knees already in pain from earlier. She placed her hand on her chest as she continued to breath heavy, attempted to force herself to calm down, not that it worked.<p>

All she thought about was that Digimon.

She couldn't believe it. Even after they killed these demons, they just _come back?!_

She leaned against the wall and hugged herself as she stifled a whimper. Instead, a small hiss escaped her lips as she shifted her legs uncomfortably, and her sore knees did not appreciate it.

How were they going to stop these monsters?

They all were almost killed because of him; Ken _literally almost did die_ because of him! And there were other monsters out there, stronger than NeoDevimon! That wasn't even factoring in these so-called "Dark Ones"!

She let her body sink back to the floor, collapsing against the wall, as she finally let out a small cry. That darkness...it enveloped her—swallowed her. She remembered how she could hardly breath, how cold it had been and how she was so frightened that it paralyzed her where she sat right then. She shivered uncontrollably at the memory.

If T.K. and Angemon hadn't come...she didn't even want to think what was going to happen to her.

She was terrified. She broke down crying as she curled up against the wall. Everything felt so hopeless. She felt so scared that it was hard to even gather the strength to continue running.

* * *

><p>T.K. found himself in a spacious stone room. There was a stairway that was broken and torn up. There was a huge gap in the middle, going up it, that was too far to jump across. He could see the floor above, and rusty railing at the edge of the floor above, that encircled the room. There was a cobwebbed, dusty, rusty and very old looking chandelier chained to the ceiling, and a long chain that dangled off it, clipped to the rusty railing, by the top of the broken and worn down stair case.<p>

There were also several old tables and chairs in the room, some broken and dusty. There was a large blue and gold rug in the center of the room, with gold tassel trimming. It looked very dirty, dust bunnies collecting on the tassels.

There were no other doorways out of the room; the only way out was the way he just came in. And the broken stairs, that was impossible to jump across the huge gaping hole of the worn down staircase. He was stuck...he had to hide.

He hoped that through all the twist and turns he made in the hallway, NeoDevimon would have gone one of the other ways. He ducked under a table, which was underneath the broken staircase, pulled out his digivice and quickly turned on the cloaking Digital Barrier.

He took in slow, quiet, deep breaths; to calm his nerves down. He had to be as quiet as possible, no sudden sounds or movements.

He heard a small explosion that came out of the hallway he just come from, and a small cloud of dust and smoke billowed through into the room, before it eventually dissipated.

NeoDevimon walked in, arrows and darts stuck in his wings, but with a shake of his wings, it glowed a red aura, and the arrows and darts dissolved. He lightly dusted his wings off after that, when the red light from his wings vanished, as if it wasn't a big deal.

He brushed off arrows and darts stuck in his wings as if it was nothing!

T.K. kept his breath quiet, and froze where he settled.

"So hide-and-seek you chose, Small One? A pointless effort, I know you are in here boy. I can smell your hate, I can taste your fear..." He chuckled coldly, "So why don't you just come out and accept your fate?"

He slammed his claws on one of the tables across the room, it snapped instantly, broken into little pieces.

T.K. felt his heart race, as he prayed in his head that Angemon would hurry.

As he held onto his digivice tightly with his right hand, he clutched the Crest of Hope around his neck with the other hand. He could faintly feel Angemon's presence through the crest. He couldn't tell where he was, or anything of that sort...he wasn't a psychic...the Digidestined and their Digimon were connected, it was an unbreakable bond. He knew that feeling was Angemon. His Digimon had been fighting hard. If he could just bide his time, till then...

He just had to last long enough till then.

* * *

><p>Yolei continued to cry and shiver as she rested her back up against the wall, all curled up. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small packet of tissues T.K. had given to her a while back, when they were on File Island.<p>

She halted her sobs briefly, as she stared at the packet. She sniffled a bit as she took one out to dry the tears on her face and wipe her nose. As she stared at the packet, she couldn't help but think of T.K. And she wasn't sure why but as she thought of him she had this nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"_No...I'm...I'm sure he's okay." _She told herself.

She shoved the packet of tissues back in her pocket, as she hugged her legs tightly against her chest. Yolei buried her face against her sore knees, fought back more tears of anxiety and fear—that wanted to spill from her eyes.

"Yolei..." A voice whispered.

Yolei instantly shot her head up. She pushed against the cool stone wall, to get back up on her feet. She whipped her head around, back and forth, right and left, up and down. But she couldn't see a soul.

"_That's weird...I thought I heard someone call out my name?"_ Yolei brushed some hair behind her left ear; continued to look all around her.

"Yolei..." The voice was a little bit louder than a whisper this time.

"Whose there?" Yolei muttered.

"Don't you remember?" The voice asked.

When Yolei peered to the right, a figure began to fade into reality. The blond haired, ghost-like girl, with the purple hat, who had helped her discover the meaning of her crest.

"It's you again...how are you...?" Yolei started.

"Never mind that for now, Yolei, your friend T.K. is in danger." She warned.

"What? What do you mean? He's got Angemon—"

The ghost girl shook her head, as she placed her hands together in front of her, squeezing them, as they rested against her lavender skirt.

"Him and Angemon were separated, he is now trapped...NeoDevimon chased after him, Angemon might not be able to get there in time." She closed her eyes.

"How do you know all this?" Yolei asked, a feeling of dread for her friend, bubbled up in her throat.

"It's my job. Did I not already tell you the first time, the Sovereigns instructed me, and the others, to watch over our successors and help them when we can?" The blond-ghost answered with a half-smile.

Right, she had almost forgotten about that. Not that she had any idea who these "others" this girl talked about were, but that wasn't important right now.

"Okay...so...why are you telling me all this?" Yolei raised an eyebrow.

"Because...you are the Digidestined who is closest to where T.K. is at right now." She informed.

Yolei felt her eyes widen to the size of golf balls practically. Her jaw hung open slightly. She stared at the ghost-girl in pure silence, a bit too startled to know how to respond in that moment.

She didn't honestly think that Yolei could actually do something to help, did she?

"W-What...you...what do honestly expect me to do?! If you watched, then you saw what that monster was capable of! I don't have Hawkmon with me! And that monster...he...he...no, it's pointless! There is nothing I can do!" Yolei's tone became frantic.

Her legs trembled in her panic. She felt her heart race. How dare she, how dare she tell Yolei to try to go up against something that had tried to swallow her in that darkness before...it had been so frightening and she had thought in that moment that she was going to die. How could she ask for something like that from Yolei? And even though they killed him once before, he had came back stronger than ever—what was the point, and what could she possibly do?!

"Yolei, calm down, I do not expect anything from you—"

"That's a load of crap!" Yolei snapped, interrupting the ghost girl.

Her whole body trembled from head to toe now. Could this girl not see how terrified Yolei was?

"Don't lie to me! You want me to go in there and...no! I won't! I won't get attacked by that weird darkness again! I am just a girl in middle school! Sure, fighting alongside Hawkmon is one thing, fighting in a team is one thing...but you are asking me to go off by myself to try to fight this, _this creature?!_ Not. A. Chance! You can just forget it! It's pointless! I'm not walking into a death sentence like that! I'm not going anywhere near that horrible monster!" Yolei shouted as a couple of drops of tears fell from her eyes.

"It seems you misunderstood me Yolei, but that's okay, because it would seem I misjudged you. Your friend's life is in danger; I assumed you were the kind of person who would go to their friend's aid; especially when that friend risked his own life for you. What you do is your choice, Yolei, my intentions were only to let you know about T.K.'s crisis."

The ghost girl vanished without a trace. Yolei's body shook with fear, but also anger. How could she do that, how could she give Yolei a guilt-trip like that? Yolei wanted to break down and cry again. She was frightened. Petrified even...but...

Yolei squeezed tightly onto her Crest of Empathy, shame filled her heart, and she forced her eyes tightly shut.

"T.K." She whispered.

She pictured the blond haired boy her age in her mind, a bright smile on his face.

_"I know it sounds corny but trust me on this, believe in your friends and never let go of hope, and you'll be able to get through this, no doubt about it."_

"T.K., but...I..." She felt more tears stream down her cheeks, as she squeezed her crest and digivice even tighter, while her body vibrated from her inner turmoil.

"_Though I'm pretty sure I don't need it, you can hang on to them Yolei." T.K. handed her the packet of tissues._

She buried her face in her hands, as tears spilled out faster from her eyes.

"_The only reason he's in danger is because of me. He came to save me, and now..."_ She thought as she continued to cry.

But she was so terrified, the fear practically paralyzed her. She couldn't take it anymore. What was she supposed to do? She wasn't that strong—what could she, an eleven year old girl, do in a situation like this?

"_You'll soon realize you're stronger than you think. That digivice chose you, Yolei, just like it chose all of us. You're never alone, Yolei. You have us, your fellow Digidestined, we're your friends and we stick together."_

She remembered, she remembered all those things T.K. said to her, his words of encouragement echoed through her memories. His smile burned through her thoughts. But that smile...she might not ever have the chance to see it again.

"_But T.K., I'm so scared, I'm so scared that I can't stand it! What am I supposed to do? I'm not brave like you are!" _She mentally begged to the memory.

"_Being brave doesn't mean being fearless...being brave means fighting on even though you're scared."_

She let out a deep breath, as she remembered the answer T.K. had given her a while back. Yolei wiped her eyes once more, as she sniffled.

Really there was only one thing she could do. Her body still trembled in fear and she couldn't believe herself. She glanced at her digivice, to find where T.K. was. It was a small step, then another, and another, before she knew it, Yolei started to run in the direction of the dot.

She was insane, she was crazy...but...she couldn't sit by and let him die.

* * *

><p>Izzy cursed silently to himself, there was no booby traps or anything he could use to hack into the room NeoDevimon was in. T.K. was trapped in there! And he couldn't do anything. Izzy tapped his chin over and over, his mind raced, in hopes to think of something to do to help the boy.<p>

He was distracted felt the room suddenly get very hot. Sparks flew off the huge main computer's keyboard, and the circuits underneath it.

"Oh crap..." Izzy winced.

He pulled his cable out of the main computer, that he attached to his laptop; he slammed the laptop shut, and ran out of the room immediately. Though the computer didn't explode like he expected. But smoke did start to come off it, as well as a few occasional sparks. Izzy let out a sigh of relief. He was almost afraid the old computer over-heated, and couldn't handle everything, and was about to go kaboom on him.

He popped his head in the room, and his jaw dropped, there was a countdown on the monitor that now appeared. Labeled, _"Countdown till self-destruct: 20:00"._

"This is definitely not good!" Izzy took off, to go warn the others.

Alarms started to set off all within the fortress.

"Oh man, I seriously hope I didn't somehow trigger this!" Izzy groaned as he sprinted.

* * *

><p>What was that? It wasn't a fire alarm, but it sounded something similar too it. T.K. knew it was bad though.<p>

"Hmmm...sounds like someone set off the self-destruct sequence, interesting. Guess I'll have to pick up pace, shame I can't drag out my fun." NeoDevimon mused.

"_Self-destruct sequence?! Oh geez, what else is going to go wrong today?!" _T.K. mentally griped.

T.K. realized that NeoDevimon destroyed all the tables in the room, except for the one he hid under. T.K. felt his heart drop as he noticed NeoDevimon's feet in front of him.

"Come out, come out, Small One!" NeoDevimon sang.

T.K. dived forward from under the table, as a claw crushed down on the table and broke it to splinters. He rolled away a bit before he came to a stop. NeoDevimon did not see him because of the Barrier, but he heard him. He whipped his head to the direction where T.K. landed.

"Deep Sorrow!" NeoDevimon cried out.

A redish-purple aura emitted from his wings, and then it had burst through the entire room like a gust of wind.

T.K. instantly covered his mouth, for fear it was poisonous. But sparks began to fly off the invisible barrier, T.K.'s eyes widen, horrified as he saw the barrier become visible, before it faded away.

"There you are Small One, interesting trick you learned there. But it would seem we're on a tight schedule now, I can't take my time playing around with you. So, time to die." NeoDevimon announced, bored.

T.K. got up to his feet and glared up at NeoDevimon. The devil Digimon began to cackle.

"So facing death bravely are we? Alright then, in that case, let me show you one of my new tricks that my masters blessed me with."

A black ball of light formed in his claw, red sparks of energy flew off it. It was about the size of a basketball.

"Catch...Shadow Orb!"

He launched the ball of energy at T.K., who made an immediate dive to the ground, the energy ball flew over, missed him, and crashed straight into one of the old chairs in the room, it instantly disintegrated on impacted. Nothing but ashes remained.

"My, my, quick on your feet." He chuckled.

T.K. got up and ran, as the dark Digimon, created multiple _"Shadow Orbs"_ and launched them, T.K. practically ran in a circle around the entire room, as every single piece of furniture (and what was left of the tables) were now all piles of ash.

"I wonder what you humans are made of?" He mused as he teleported behind T.K.

T.K. instantly jumped backwards, growled at NeoDevimon. He raised his razor sharp claws high above T.K.'s head, before hammering his arm down. T.K. jumped out of the way fast as possible. But not fast enough.

The boy howled in pain, as he clutched his left arm where one of NeoDevimon's claws cut into his skin. The cut wasn't deep, nor was it shallow and blood seeped through T.K.'s sleeve.

"What in the world...? Interesting, so it's true, you humans do actually do this thing they call bleeding. What a fun discovery." The devil chuckled darkly.

T.K.'s back was up against the wall...he was cornered.

"_Angemon...Matt..."_ T.K. winced as he clutched his bloody sleeve.

* * *

><p>Matt, who continued to pull Tai back, away from the wall of flames, back to Sora and Mimi, his head snapped up. He looked back at the fortress behind them, distracted. He couldn't shake his instincts, that something was wrong.<p>

"Matt, is everything alright?" Mimi asked.

Matt didn't turn to face her, but he gave the girl a nod to at least let her know he heard her.

"Yeah..." He responded, but thought to himself, _"At least I hope so...T.K., you better be alright kiddo."_

He hoped to himself that he was just paranoid. Tai panicking over his sister (not that he could blame him, Tai had every right to freak) probably just rubbed off on him.

_"Yeah...that must be it."_

* * *

><p>Yolei panted as her legs took her down the many corridors. The sound of an alarm blared in her ears. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she knew it was bad news.<p>

"_Please, be alive T.K." _She forced herself to run at an even faster pace, despite how much her knees ached and her thighs and diaphragm burned.

She put her feet on breaks, as she slid, for at the end of the hallway she could see a railing. She caught the rusty railing; thankful she didn't go right over and fall.

She peered down and let out a gasp. There was that demon...and T.K., he was trapped...

She ran over to the stairs at the end, only to see that there was a huge gaping hole in the center of the worn down staircase. It was too far for her to attempt to jump across so she frantically searched for another way, and noticed a long chain, that was clipped to the side of the railing right next to her. The chain was attached to the chandelier at the center of the room. She gripped the rusty chain, as her mind was frantic, after much struggle and squeezing, Yolei managed to get the thing clipped off to the rail.

She hopped over the rail and clutched the chain tightly.

"_I must be out of my mind."_ She thought as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

She swung down from the chain and when she was a good two feet away from the ground, she let go, and in a not so graceful landing, tumbled over her feet a bit, before she finally stopped herself dead in her tracks.

"Y-Yolei?" T.K. finally noticed her on the other side.

NeoDevimon faced his attention to the new person who entered the large room. He let out a snort when he noticed the girl.

"Oh it's you again, come to watch your friend die?"

Yolei felt her heart race and sweat formed on the back of her neck, as the hairs on her arm rose, as well as goosebumps began to form on her arms and legs. Her breath quickened, and she swallowed another hard lump.

Yes, she was very terrified, but...she didn't want T.K. to die.

"L-Leave him al-lone..." She stuttered.

NeoDevimon threw his head back and howled with laughter. His dark laugh echoed throughout the entire room, which caused Yolei to feel chills crawl down her spine, and caused her knees to knock.

"Or you'll do what? Shiver all over me?" He mocked, and turned his back on Yolei, faced the boy he cornered once again, raised his claw high above the boy's head, as it glowed a yellow color, "Don't worry, I'll let you two see each other again, you can be next little girl."

Yolei's eyes widened with panic, she felt her heart, and it pounded in her head, faster and faster. A trembled hand, reached for her digivice, and held it up. She took another hard swallow.

"I said..." Her hand shivered as it clutched the digivice, "Leave him alone."

NeoDevimon didn't listen to her, his claw growing brighter and brighter, as it made its way closer and closer to T.K.'s head. Yolei panted, as the only thing she could hear was her heartbeat; which continued to race uncontrollably. She felt as if she witnessed everything in slow motion.

"I said leave him alone!" Yolei's screamed, her voice echoed throughout the room large room.

A burst of light, like an energy beam, came out of her digivice in a blast. It slammed into NeoDevimon dead on, sent the Digimon on a collision coarse with the wall, as he smashed straight through it. A crumbled hole in the wall, with a small stream of smoke coming off it was the only evidence to a startled Yolei and T.K. of what had just happened.

Yolei stood there, jaw dropped as she started dumbfounded at her digivice.

"How the heck did I do that?" She mumbled.

She tried to shake it off and ran forward to T.K., but still couldn't believe her eyes as to what had just happened. T.K. shook off his surprise instantly; he grabbed the lavender-haired girl by the wrist, and dragged her off through the hallway he had previously entered through.

"Come on, we gotta get to Angemon!"

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Phew...!**

**I'm so glad I finally got to this!**

**So yeah, reviews would be pretty awesome, but flames are of the devil, and Angewomon will blast them to kingdom come! **

**Anyways, many thanks to you my supportive readers for sticking with me all this time. **

**It also just occurred to me that it's been nearly two years since I started this fic. That's the longest time I've ever invested in a fanfic in my life. But I couldn't do it without the support of my wonderful readers, you guys are awesome!**

**Also special thanks to my beta, LithiumRukia who is also my charming, intelligent best friend who is awesome and has **_**fabulous**_** music taste.**

**(A/N: Nice of my beta to see her flatter herself, LOL! But all kidding aside, I adore her, and I couldn't of done it without her help.) **

**So yeah just a reminder, if you want to review for this chapter, because I deleted the author's note, it probably won't allow you to post a review, so either just post an anonymous review or just do a combined review on Chapter 19 of your thoughts on both chapters :)  
><strong>

**I know this chapter was somewhat shorter than usual...buuuuut, I figured that's justified since I'm giving you guys two chapters in one go.  
><strong>


	19. Something I Want To Say

**Chapter 19: Something I Want To Say**

**_A/N: (May 20, 2013) Chapter 20 will come out very shortly, now that my re-edits of 1-15 are now all done._  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"<em>Now the city blacks out the sun<em>

_That you know is rising  
>You can show me the work that you've done<br>Your fears have been disguising_

_Is it just me or is everyone  
>Hiding out between the lines?<br>Where will we be when we come undone  
>Just a simple meeting of the minds?"<em>

_**-Fire with Fire by Scissor Sisters**_

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

T.K. and Yolei ran and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Left and right, door after door, hallway and corridor, one after another they went. They finally stopped before the giant hole in the floor which Angemon had created when T.K. and Angemon had come to rescue Yolei from NeoDevimon.

"Okay, Angemon is down there. Ready?" T.K. asked.

Yolei gawked, "Wait—ready for what?! Are you suggesting we jump?! T.K. this is kind of _really _high for us to jump. You must be nuts!"

"Yolei, I'm not going to waste time searching for another staircase down—he needs my help, and NeoDevimon could be up at any second coming after us! Besides...it's not that high, at least not high enough to break a leg." T.K. answered seriously.

"You are so missing the point!" Yolei breathed exasperatedly.

"Well, are you coming or not?" T.K. asked again.

Yolei made a noise that was a mix between a growl and a whine. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she grabbed onto T.K.'s hand again.

"Fine...but if I get bruised up anymore than I already am you are in serious trouble!" She scowled.

T.K. was amazed, earlier on she had been shaking like a leaf on a windy day, but now she was back to her usual self...quite the recovery. He smiled and nodded at her.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Come on!"

The two leaped down, the alarms of the self-destruct sequence still blaring throughout the halls and they both managed to land on their feet, only to stumble and fall over, both rolling across the stone floor.

T.K. got up and dusted himself off. He winced, as the cut on his arm still stung pretty badly, but he ignored it for now—Angemon was his top priority. He didn't know how long it would take before this place would blow up.

Yolei dusted herself off as she grumbled complaints in the corner and T.K. couldn't help but smile as he witnessed that.

* * *

><p>The battle dragged on and on, or so it seemed for the Digimon.<p>

Matt and Sora struggled to hold Tai back, to prevent him from running straight into the wall of flames that cut them off from Davis and Kari...who were trapped with SkullMeramon.

Mimi caught someone come out of the doorway through her the corner of her eye with a distinctive mop of red hair.

"Izzy?"

Izzy ran up to the four as quickly as he could.

"Izzy, what's wrong? You're all panting and sweaty." She inquired.

Matt and Sora turned to glance over at Izzy, not letting go of Tai. Izzy looked very distressed, they noticed. Izzy took a second to catch his breath, before the same frantic expression appeared on his face.

"This whole place...it's going to blow! A self-destruct sequence somehow got triggered! I'd say we've got about ten minutes!" He shouted.

"Self-destruct?!" Tai exclaimed, only momentarily distracted from his focus.

"Where's Yolei...and T.K.?!" Matt demanded, grabbing onto Izzy's shoulder.

"They're still in there...actually. T.K. ran into trouble. I tried to help in whatever way I could...but..." Izzy trailed off.

Matt let go of Tai, and was ready to jump onto Garurumon's back and run over to his brother, ignoring the battle at hand. (But a nagging part of him said that would kind of make him a hypocrite since he'd already told Tai not to do anything stupid, dangerous or reckless just to try to save his sister).

But his instincts regarding T.K. had been correct after all, and he had ignored them.

"_Yeah, what a great big brother you are!" _Matt thought in bitter sarcasm.

But he was caught off guard when he felt the weight of a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Matt, he's going to be fine. Trust your brother." Izzy smiled and held up his digivice, "Look, see that, those two dots, Yolei and T.K. must have met up, and they're moving. Angemon will protect them, no doubt."

"Y-Yeah..." Matt sighed.

* * *

><p>T.K.'s smile stretched from ear to ear.<p>

Angemon was in sight, as were the now over twenty Devimon copies he continued to war with. Yolei and T.K. watched in disgust as they multiplied continuously no matter how many times Angemon destroyed them.

"Angemon!" T.K. called out.

Angemon looked as though the biggest weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He sighed with a smile of relief, happy to see that T.K was still okay.

"Let's clean this mess up, whad'ya say?!" T.K. shouted.

Angemon nodded, as T.K. clutched his crest. A bright yellow light illuminated the crest and Angemon's body.

"Angemon, digivolve to...MagnaAngemon!"

Yolei's jaw dropped, as she marveled at Angemon's Ultimate form. T.K. grinned; MagnaAngemon was a sight for sore eyes.

A purple light, that was the shape of a blade, slid out of MagnaAngemon's winged gauntlet. He made a circular cutting motion in the air as a golden gateway appeared within a circle of light.

"Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon called out.

The gateway opened, a gust of wind sucked all the Devimon clones in like a black hole. They tried to grab onto the floors, and the walls, but it was a futile gesture. None were able to keep their grip for long. The gateway twirled a bit once it had dragged all of the dark copies into it before sealing itself shut and vanishing into the air.

"Wow! You really know how to clean house!" Yolei admired.

MagnaAngemon didn't pay attention to the two kids for a moment, though. He looked off in the distance, as if in deep thought.

"MagnaAngemon? What's wrong?" T.K. asked.

"NeoDevimon...he is no longer within this fortress." The angel answered.

"What, you mean he just took off?" Yolei asked.

"Correct, I can no longer sense his dark presence." He nodded.

"Hmph, well good riddance!" Yolei spat.

"I doubt it's the last we'll see of him though..." T.K. added, Yolei shifted uncomfortably once he had said that.

"Come, it is too dangerous, we must make haste and get back to the others." MagnaAngemon scooped the two preteens up, and placed them on his back.

He took off at rapid speed, his wings taking flight in the spacious hallways. Yolei looked over at the blond-haired boy, and only just then noticed the blood on T.K.'s sleeve.

Her heart dropped as her eyes widened sympathetically.

"T.K., let me see your arm!" Yolei yanked him closer to her and she felt slightly guilty when she noticed him wince as she pulled him towards her, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." T.K. gave a small smile.

Yolei pulled his sleeve up to better inspect it, her eyebrows crinkling in pity and guilt, when she saw the red horizontal gash running across his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She breathed.

"Huh? What are you apologizing for?" T.K. blinked.

"If I didn't run off on my own, I wouldn't have gotten into trouble, and you wouldn't have had to try to run and save me. You shouldn't have to get hurt because of me." She frowned.

"Hey we're Digidestined, consider this an occupational hazard."

T.K. grinned cheekily but Yolei could only give a fake half-smile in response which caused T.K. to frown.

"Come on, don't feel bad—it's not like you were the one who did this..." T.K. scratched his cheek.

Yolei tugged off her blue bandana, and began to tie it around the bloodied shoulder. The blond preteen blinked in response. He never seen Yolei without something on her head before. Plus, that was her favorite blue bandana, and she was using it like a bandage, just for him.

"Thanks...Yolei."

"Don't mention it...it's the least I could do." She muttered as she double-checked, to make sure it was on tightly enough, before pulling his sleeve back down over it.

"That's not the only thing I have to thank you for, you know..." T.K. looked down at the hem of his shirt.

Yolei was probably confused, and when he peered up to see her, he was right, she just sat there—blinking in confusion.

"You still came back for me. You really saved my life, you know, Yolei. For a moment...I thought...I thought that was it. But then you showed up. So...thanks." T.K. muttered awkwardly, his cheeks slightly warm, as he scratched the back of his neck.

"You're welcome." Yolei's face brightened up.

There was silence amongst the two for about a good two minutes. But something was eating away at T.K. since he had witnessed it.

"Yolei...how did you do that? I mean, with your digivice, you blasted NeoDevimon straight through the wall! I've never seen that done before..." T.K. rubbed the area around his injury gingerly.

"I...I don't know. I just remembered that our digivices hurt him that one time, and...well...I didn't know what to do. It was the only thing I could think of. I just...I just didn't want him to kill you. I was just as surprised as you are." She twirled the end strands of her hair anxiously.

* * *

><p>Davis wanted to hurt himself right now. He had got himself in a jam, and now he was dragging Kari and DemiVeemon down with him. So stupid!<p>

"Look...Metal Mouth!" Davis called out to the towering SkullMeramon, "Your beef is with me so leave them out of it, okay?!"

"Davis, stop—"

"Well isn't that noble of you." SkullMeramon snorted, "But sorry; I don't take requests. All you kids have to die anyway, orders are orders. So enjoy some company in your last moments, boy."

Davis grabbed onto the wrist of the girl behind him. He didn't want to dare look at her face right now. It was all so messed up. How could he screw up their rescue of him like that? Kari didn't deserve this!

"Say goodbye, little brats." SkullMeramon whispered with a cold grin.

SkullMeramon's fist was encircled by a ring of blue flames. He punched into the ground so hard that it began to crack and crumble beneath Davis and Kari's feet. The two screamed, as they began to tumble off the edge of the fortress along with the falling debris.

Davis clung tightly onto Kari and DemiVeemon. There had to be a way out of this...somehow. Thinking wasn't exactly his strong suit, but he needed to think of something desperately now more than ever.

"DemiVeemon, come on! You gotta wake up! Come on!" Davis shouted at the little blue creature.

_"No way...this can't be the end already? Not like this."_ Davis thought as the wind howled in his ears.

But it seemed like it was no use, his Digimon was out cold. He didn't see any of the other Digimon flying down after the two. They were all probably trapped in battle still.

"Kari, I'm sorry about all this—this is all my fault." Davis bit his lower lip.

"Davis, don't be ridiculous, it isn't your fault!" Kari frowned.

"I still shouldn't have got you dragged into this."

"I'm the one that chased after you. So technically I brought this on myself." She countered.

"Hey! No you did not!" Davis snapped. "Ugh...forget it. So now what? What do we do?"

"I...I don't know, but don't worry, Davis, I'm sure Angewomon is coming after us as we speak. So don't give up hope, okay?" Kari squeezed Davis's arm.

"Oh I know, we'll totally make it out of this, no sweat, we're too awesome for this stuff!" Davis shrugged, in a fake attempt to make it seem like he didn't even care that they were falling to their deaths.

There was a brief moment of silence for only a few seconds and Davis sighed, but Kari probably didn't hear it over the wind.

"But...you know if there isn't a chance, and I'm not saying there isn't because there totally is a chance...but if there isn't, maybe...we should get in some last words, just in case...you know?" Davis frowned.

"What do you mean?" Kari looked at Davis with surprise.

"Well...if we are gonna die, I'd rather share you something before I go, last words and stuff you know." He announced casually, before adding in a more serious tone, "Kari, you know, there is something...I want to tell you..."

"What is it, Davis?"

"Well, I umm...I just wanted you to know that—"

"—My head really hurts! Someone get an icepack for this little Digimon!" DemiVeemon whined.

"Hey DemiVeemon, I'm trying to—DemiVeemon you're awake! Quick, you gotta digivolve all the way to ExVeemon, we're falling fast!" Davis pointed out the ground to the little Digimon.

DemiVeemon gasped, and shut his eyes tightly, he strained and strained, his little body trembled but nothing.

"I'm sorry Davis, but I don't got much energy." DemiVeemon whined.

Davis groaned, Kari remained in silence as the gears in her head turned. Davis blinked in confusion, wondering what she thought about.

"Maybe...I can do something." Kari mumbled.

"What, I couldn't hear you?" Davis raised his eyebrows.

"I said I might be able to do something, Davis, give me your digivice!" Kari exclaimed.

"Okay?"

DemiVeemon held tightly onto Davis, as he pulled the device out of his pocket. He handed it over to Kari, as she placed it against her chest beside her crest.

"DemiVeemon, come here." Kari requested.

Davis picked up DemiVeemon and set him on Kari. He placed his tiny hands on Davis's digivice.

"Well, I hope this works..." Kari took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>"Kari!" Angewomon yelled, her hand stretched out towards the girl, even though she was far from her reach.<p>

LadyDevimon cackled viciously and yanked Angewomon back by her hair.

"Where do you think you're going, Blondie?" She giggled darkly.

It took Matt, Sora, Mimi and Izzy to hold Tai back. The boy screamed frantically, his pupils shrinking as his eyes widened with horror. He called out the name of the boy, but mostly his sister, in a panicked frenzy.

"Kari! Kari! Kari! What are you idiots standing around for?! Do something! Help them! Greymon! Someone do something! Help them! Save her!" Tai pulled himself out of everyone's grip.

Sora sprinted forward, getting in front of Tai, and slapped him right across the face. Needless to say, her gesture worked—it stopped the spiky haired brunette in his tracks. She glared at the dumbstruck Tai.

"Look at yourself, Tai! You need to knock it off! This place is about to blow, and yes, Kari and Davis are in serious trouble, but none of this is going to help Davis or your sister! You're the leader! Calm down for two seconds and think of something that will help us and them!" She shouted.

Tai placed his hand on his burning cheek and hung his head down as he grit his teeth.

"Sorry, Sora...thanks..." When he glanced back up there was a fire in his eyes.

"That's more like it." She smiled.

"Greymon, Garurumon, we have no time to waste, no playing around with them anymore! Get rid of those Digimon, and focus on LadyDevimon!" He ordered, "Sora, Izzy, get Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon to make a huge distraction, a combined attack or something. The moment T.K. and Yolei get here, we're all out of here."

The two nodded, and ran towards the battlefield to call to their Digimon.

Greymon currently had DarkLizardmon in his jaw. Greymon's mouth filled with his fire, as he prepared for the final blow.

"Nova Blast!"

DarkLizardmon disintegrated into bits of data. Greymon turned and noticed Garurumon struggle with Golemon. The wolf Champion noticed Greymon as well and the two nodded at each other. Though pinned down, Garurumon opened his mouth as a blue light appeared. Greymon stood behind Golemon as he opened his mouth, while a fireball began to form.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Nova Blast!"

The combined attack was enough to take down Golemon and his hard exterior. The Digimon burst into tiny fragments of data, before it vanished.

"Now go, hurry—help Angewomon!" Matt shouted.

Everyone on top of the fortress became distracted when a beam of light, shot out towards the sky, like a pillar, before vanishing as quickly as it had come. The light appeared in the same area where Davis and Kari were falling. The faces of Tai and the others brightened with hopeful smiles.

"You see, Tai!? That had to have been those two! I bet that light was DemiVeemon digivolving—they're gonna be okay!" Mimi beamed.

"Yeah" Tai agreed.

Both Matt and Tai's Champions took off, Greymon and Garurumon combining their attacks. The blast of their combined efforts crashed into LadyDevimon and she hissed, released Angewomon from her grip. She intended to make them pay for what they had done, but Angewomon had other plans.

"Celestial Arrow!"

The holy arrow that she had fired with perfect aim stabbed LadyDevimon in the wing. The she-devil howled in pain and cursed. Angewomon decided to return the favor for SkullMeramon. She fired another arrow at the Digimon, piercing him in the arm. The holy arrow caused his left arm to shatter into bits of data and he collapsed to the ground, as tiny pixel fragments poured out of the remains of his socket.

"Alright, Angewomon, now go!" Tai called out.

"You don't have to tell me." Angewomon flew off.

Hippogriffmon kicked Phantomon into LadyDevimon, and flew back down to the group. Lillymon bombed Minotarumon with her Flower Cannon, sending the Digimon crashing into the side of the fortress wall.

Tai noticed T.K. and Yolei, as they flew in through a hole in the wall, on MagnaAngemon's back.

"Okay, Sora, Izzy, now!" Tai called out.

"You heard him!" Izzy yelled up to their Digimon.

"Fire Hurricane!"

"Horned Buster!"

Garudamon created a huge tornado of flames while MegaKabuterimon fired a electric blast into it. It swirled around and created a fire and lightning tornado. Okuwamon, Crowmon, Minotarumon, Phantomon, and two injured Digimon, SkullMeramon and LadyDevimon, all had to do their best to avoid the combined attack. Unfortunately for Okuwamon, Crowmon and Minotarumon, they could not withstand it. They all disintegrated into tiny data.

Matt and Mimi jumped onto Yolei's Hippogriffmon; Garudamon flew down and picked up Greymon and Garurumon with her talons. She gently scooped up Sora and Tai with her clawed hands. Izzy jumped onto MegaKabuterimon's back. Hippogriffmon, with Mimi and Matt, and MagnaAngemon, with Yolei and T.K. also flew down and landed on MegaKabuterimon's back, to set the humans down.

"Alright, let's see if we can find Kari and Davis!" Tai announced.

"Hold up there for a second, Tai. This place is gonna blow sky high! We need to get to a safe distance away first before we go on a search party!" Izzy warned.

Tai growled but reluctantly agreed.

* * *

><p>LadyDevimon, Phantomon and SkullMeramon were enraged.<p>

But before any of them could voice their complaints, LadyDevimon heard a voice in her head. Phantomon could sense something was up, so he ignored SkullMeramon's rant and awaited what LadyDevimon had to say.

"We have to get out of here now." LadyDevimon instructed.

"Why is that?" Phantomon inquired.

"My brother just telepathically informed me that this place is set to self-destruct. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be around when that happens."

"Ugh, those rotten, snot-nosed kids!" SkullMeramon roared.

"We can focus on our revenge for this humiliation later, for now we must leave. I have to return to my brother and you two—you have to inform Etemon of what happened here immediately." LadyDevimon disappeared through a black portal refusing to give the two the time to argue against seeing Etemon.

"Hmmm...very well, let's go SkullMeramon, we have to get you fixed up anyway." Phantomon sneered as he created a dark portal.

Once the Digimon had all vanished, the fortress erupted like a chain reaction, first each section of the building itself, then the whole floating island. The explosion was so powerful that it could be felt for miles.

* * *

><p>Joe, Cody, Ken, and their Digimon all snapped their heads around in the same direction. They felt the forest floor quake around them.<p>

"Holy Cow! Joe, did you feel that?!" Gomamon popped his head out of the river.

"Yeah I did." Joe narrowed his eyes.

Ken moved to sit up, but Joe nudged him gently back down.

"Hey, no sudden movements, that ankle of yours is still healing."

"But Joe I can walk just fine now." Ken frowned.

"No buts, doctor's orders." Joe smiled.

"What do you think it could have been?" Armadillomon yawned; the loud sound had woken him up from his nap.

"Don't know...it sounded like an explosion, or a volcano erupting." Cody continued to peel the interesting looking carrots and potatoes that Wormmon had discovered, and placed them in a pile.

"I can go check it out if you like" Wormmon spoke up.

Since Ken, who wanted to see what was going on himself couldn't do so, his Digimon felt it was the least he could do. Besides one of the advantages of being Wormmon was being able to climb trees with ease.

"Alright, but be careful." Joe agreed, as Wormmon crawled his way up the tallest tree that Ken was rested against.

When Wormmon got to the top, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was a huge cloud of black smoke in the sky, in the far distance, miles away. It didn't come from any of the mountains, so there was no volcano. No, the black cloud of smoke was only high up in the sky, but there were bits of debris falling to the forest below it.

* * *

><p>ExVeemon gently set Kari and Davis down on the forest ground below. Kari had a strange feeling, for it was a bit cold for some reason. But she brushed it off.<p>

"Wow Kari! That was amazing! How did you do that?!" Davis exclaimed.

"Well, I'm still not that sure about it...but...I guess a couple of years ago, I realized that my crest...sort of helped other Digimon who were weakened, like a battery I guess."

Kari felt a bit dizzy; Davis noticed this and grabbed her by the shoulder to support her, worry now filling his eyes instead of excitement.

"No, don't worry, like I said, it kind of works like a battery. It just drained me a little doing that. Just one day of rest and I'll be fine again." She reassured.

"Well okay, but you should just sit down, just to make sure." Davis crossed his arms.

A weird fog loomed over the forest floor; Kari wondered if that was why it was a bit chilly.

"Kari!"

They all looked up and noticed Angewomon. She flew down and instantly scooped Kari into her arms and held her in a tight embrace.

"I was so worried about, thank goodness you are alright." She set the human girl down.

"I was beginning to get worried that we would have been separated." Kari looked up with a beaming smile.

Angewomon returned the smile, and pat the young girl on the head. Her body glowed golden, and it shrunk down to the size of a cat; de-digivolving back into Gatomon.

ExVeemon likewise decided to de-digivolve back into Veemon.

"Hey Davis...what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Kari spoke up.

"Huh?"

"You know, when we were falling, you said you had something you wanted to tell me." Kari reminded.

"Oooh that...hmmm...okay you promise not to laugh?" Davis's eyes were akin to puppy dog eyes.

Kari giggled, "Of course I won't."

Davis sighed, "Okay..."

There was a pause, which lasted about thirty seconds; Davis tapped his foot, as his cheeks turned pink.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you, that in case if we were going to die...I wanted to tell you that...well you are one of the nicest girls I've ever known Kari, and that I was happy to have met you...and that...well," He scratched his chin, "If I was going to die, that I'm actually a little...happy...because I would have got to spend my last moments...with someone like you."

Kari, Gatomon and Veemon were all speechless. Davis's face turned redder and he scowled, his eyes narrowing when he looked over at the three.

"I knew it! It was too cheesy and corny!" He slapped himself, "Go ahead and laugh at me!"

"No Davis...no! There was nothing wrong with it; it just...took me by surprise. It was—very sweet. Thank you. I honestly have no idea what to say to something beautiful like that." Kari flashed him a comforting smile.

"Really? Well...okay!" Davis grinned.

"And you know something else, Davis, I wouldn't have minded spending my last moments with a kind and funny guy like you either."

Davis's face turned completely red, he stumbled over his own feet, and tried to laugh it off. Kari blinked at first, puzzled by the behavior, but laughed it off with Davis. Leave it to Davis to be goofy and make everyone laugh as usual.

* * *

><p>After they and their Digimon had ducked behind a couple of trees, they braced themselves, until the impact of the explosion left and the group all took a moment to catch their breath. The Digimon all de-digivolved back to their Rookie state.<p>

Izzy pulled out his digivice so they could track Davis and Kari.

"Hey, we're actually not to far from them." Izzy pointed out.

It was a relief for Tai. The boy was able to breath easier, with the knowledge that the Digimon got to the two in time, He wouldn't be happy being a big brother to a pancake.

Tai, Sora, Mimi, Matt, T.K. and Yolei followed Izzy, with their Digimon right by their side, as they trekked through the forest. Izzy's expression morphed into one of confusion as he gazed at his digivice.

"Izzy, what's going on?" T.K. asked.

"Davis and Kari's signatures...they keep blinking off and on. It's like...something is blocking our signal to track them." Izzy tapped his digivice.

"What?" Tai pulled his digivice out immediately.

Sure enough, the two dots kept blinking off and on. And the dots were fuzzy, as if...as if the signal was fading away.

"Come on, let's hurry! Something isn't right!" Tai rushed ahead.

* * *

><p>"Kari! Davis! Where are you?!"<p>

"Hey, that sounded like my brother." Kari pulled herself to her feet.

"Davis? Kari?"

"And that was Matt." Davis sat up.

Sure enough, they heard the whole group, as the other Digidestined and Digimon came within sight. Veemon, Gatomon, Davis and Kari beamed, as they approached the group.

"Hey, we're right here guys!" Davis waved.

"Davis! Kari! Can you hear us?" Sora cried out.

"What the heck are you talking about? We're _right_ in front of you!" Davis scowled.

"_Is this some kind of joke?" _Davis growled.

Davis was getting annoyed; Kari however started to look more and more worried.

"Kari! I'm right here!" Tai shouted.

Davis was about to shout, and grab Tai by the shoulder, but he froze, when Tai passed right through him. The boy's eyes widened with shock, soon the rest of the group walked straight through Davis. Like he was a ghost!

He dropped to his knees; his mind struggling to process what just happened. The fog at their feet was getting thicker. The air was damp and cold.

"What...what's happening?" Kari whispered.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Davis I apologize to you, you can't seem to catch a break recently ^^;**

**I'm sure many of you Digimon fans know what's coming next. I don't even have to say it.**

**Also YAY! Joe, Ken and Cody, I missed my boys! I know it was brief, but I needed to see my boys again, even if for a moment.**

**Also if you couldn't review last chapter, just a reminder, you can if you like, doing a combined review for both chapters for this one. Thank you.**

**And thank you awesome beta for being my awesome beta, thank you LithiumRukia.**


	20. I'm The One To Blame

**Chapter 20: I'm The One To Blame  
><span>**

**A/N: (May 20, 2013) I finished re-editing all chapters 1-15, so you guys should totally check those out! Totally looks better! Everything now fits perfectly!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>"Just another family torn<em>  
><em> (Falling from my faith today)<em>  
><em> Just a step from the edge<em>  
><em> Just another day in the world we live<em>

_I need a hero to save me now_  
><em> I need a hero (save me now)."<em>

_**—Hero by Skillet**_

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-The Adventure Continues-<span>_**

Jun Motomiya was practically bouncing along the sidewalk, ear-buds in her ears, giggling and bobbing her head with the beat of the music which was on at full blast.

It was oddly quiet with her brother not home. Not _that_ quiet of course as she was still around but it was strange nonetheless.

Everything about it was strange.

Davis's sudden disappearance had happened literally over night or something. Her parents claimed he had been shipped off to military school. Apparently he was in trouble for something—but while her brother was obnoxious and impatient and a list of other annoying things...she couldn't imagine him doing something bad enough to warrant her parents actually shipping him out to some school to teach him a lesson.

It was just..._odd._

On top of that, all sorts of other bizarre things were going on...it was the month of December and the weather was acting all wacky. There had been a blizzard the night before and yet now it was literally so hot that all of that snow had nearly all but completely melted away.

She hopped over a puddle, as she pondered on how weird things had been lately. She raised a brow as she continued to tap her fingers against her mp3 player in her hand, in timing with the beat of the song. Despite all her pondering, a smile was still worn on her face. She did love this song after all.

It had only been roughly five days since her little brother had disappeared, but already everything feels amiss—not that she would admit to her parents or friends that she actually missed the little dweeb.

She just shrugged and continued listening to her music, bouncing her shoulders back and forth as she momentarily closed her eyes. Not really paying much attention as she bobbed along, she was startled the moment she opened her eyes, as Jun nearly crashed into someone by accident

"Oh, sorry!" Jun pulled back just in time.

The boy—who looked about her age—just eyed her wordlessly, his face completely unreadable.

He had messy jet-black hair, and amber-colored eyes. The boy was wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt, with an orange stripe running across the center, a black vest over the shirt and dark blue—denim jeans; there were orange and gray headphones sitting around his neck, resting on his shoulders.

Jun would dare say he was kind of cute, if it wasn't for that boring, indifferent expression on his face. He did have a pretty boy face…but his expression was just so neutral and boring. No life or emotion really in his eyes at all. It pretty much killed the cute pretty boy factor in his face.

Tailing behind the boy was a little girl with shoulder-length brown hair which was worn mostly down, except for the two half pulled up, pig tails, sitting on each side of her head. She looked about seven or eight years old. She had bright green eyes and was wearing a lime green shirt with a darker green overall dress over it. She had a small yellow puppy puppet in her hand.

She, unlike the boy, was as smiley as can be, the most carefree, happy and innocent little face. Jun couldn't help but smile when the girl approached her. She was well…adorable.

The girl giggled and started making fake barking noises with her puppet.

"That's okay miss! Arf Arf!" The little girl said.

"Jeri...don't talk to weirdos." The boy said in a bored tone, then walked away without glancing back at her.

"Wait up!" The little girl shouted back, as she ran after him.

Jun puffed up her cheeks, a heavy frown—almost a pout—on her face as her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. She probably looked like a cartoon character, but she didn't care.

_"Of all the nerve!"_ She thought as she glared at the back of the boy, who both him and the little girl eventually disappeared from sight, when the turned the corner at the next block.

Jun hasn't felt this annoyed since last week when she found toenail clippings all over her their bathroom! (Davis of course couldn't clean up after his disgusting self, and to make matters even worse he used _her _finger nail clippers!) Yes that was annoying. But even Davis's bratty attitude, their arguments they always get into, or his gross habits didn't for once—eclipse the amount aggravation she was feeling at that moment.

She had just been enjoying her music, minding her own business, not a care in the world. And sure, she almost crashed into that guy—but she hadn't! She had even apologized! But he brushes her off like she was _beneath him _or something like that; insults her, and he had the gall to not even look at her while he insulted her! Not even paying her any heed when he left, after doing so! Like she was invisible or something!

If anyone was a weirdo, it was—"_Mr. I-Show-No-Emotions-Because-I-Think-I'm-Too-Cool"__—_stuck up, teenage boy over there!

_"What a complete jerk!"_ She mentally huffed.

She brushed it off and just got back to focusing on more important things instead; like the next song that popped up on her mp3! She squealed in delight, as it was one of her favorite rock songs.

She felt the need to just ignore everything in the world as she let herself get absorbed in the heart-pounding song that gave her a rush of adrenaline. Her brother being shipped off to who knows where, the weird weather, and that rude boy—she could ignore it all, it was meaningless.

She wouldn't let anything ruin the good mood she was in now, thanks to one of her favorite songs. She bopped her head and bounced her shoulders along with the beat as she hopped over another puddle, that had some bits of snow chucks floating in it. After she hopped over it, she twirled around a stop sign, humming the chorus of the song.

She still couldn't help but wonder though...

"I wonder how Davis is doing?" She mumbled, before being absorbed into one of her favorite songs again.

* * *

><p>"Tai! Agumon! Biyomon! Sora! Tentomon! Izzy! Matt! Gabumon! Yolei! Hawkmon! Patamon! T.C.?!" Davis yelled, as he whipped his head around in all directions, even though he knew it was futile.<p>

"Davis...I think it's supposed to be T.K.?" Veemon corrected but Davis didn't listen.

Davis was having a hard time comprehending what the heck just happened. Everything was now covered in a creepy fog and he was pretty sure he could hear the sea or an ocean or something in the distance, when he knew they weren't anywhere near a body of water that big a minute ago. Everything was strange...there was a gray-ish tint to it all. There was this...depressing feeling about the place. And Tai had just run through him like he was a ghost!

But now he couldn't even see their group anymore! They vanished without a trace!

Kari was silent the whole time, Gatomon glued to her side as she followed behind them, Davis continuing to try in vein to see if anyone could possibly hear his voice.

_"Just what the hell is going on?!"_ He mentally screamed.

Suddenly Kari froze completely. Davis didn't notice at first until he had taken a couple of steps ahead and realized he couldn't hear her or Gatomon's footsteps trailing behind him. He turned around to see that she was completely still, her eyes widened slightly and her eyebrows crinkled with worry. Her mouth opened slightly, so he could see a little bit of her white teeth. There was a look of distress on her features.

He really hated that look.

"Kari? What's wrong?" Davis asked tentatively, as he approached her.

But she didn't seem to register it at all, her face was still frozen with that expression. Davis could feel his nerves starting to teeter on edge; he didn't know how to make sense of the situation, but something definitely wasn't right.

"Kari? What's wrong?" He repeated a little bit more loudly, grabbing her by the shoulder.

It seemed to do the trick. She snapped out of whatever the heck it was that she was stuck in. She eyed Davis nervously. It was obvious that she was very worried about something.

"Davis...something's coming..." She practically whispered.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Something is coming...I can feel it...something is coming for us! We need to run...away...far away from here!" Kari muttered in a small, but still a clearly rattled, tone.

She was...she was genuinely frightened!

Something had really spooked Kari, he didn't understand what, but he knew she wasn't kidding—she was dead serious about this. He couldn't help but feel something like dread squeeze at his heart. He grabbed her by the wrist, nodding to show her that he understood (well he didn't really understand, he was very confused, but he at least understood she was scared), and they took off—their Digimon following closely behind them.

He didn't really get what was going on at all. He didn't understand how they got to this creepy place and he didn't understand what Kari was talking about or what she had meant about how she could _"feel" _things or _"see"_ things…

But he knew one thing for certain, Kari was genuinely alarmed by what was going on; she was petrified, she was upset...she was distressed.

And he was going to protect her.

It was the least he could do for her. She and the others had come to help him while he was useless...but he wasn't going to be useless now! He would protect Kari from whatever it was that made her panic so much. He was going to bring her back, far away from this place, back to her family and friends. He was going to bring her back to her smiling self again, to feeling safe again.

Eventually they spotted some mountains and Gatomon ran ahead of them, spotting a cave. Davis ran inside after the cat, with Kari and Veemon in tow. All four panted, as they tried to catch their breath.

Davis looked back at Kari and she gave him a small smile. It wasn't her usual smile though...it was that smile she'd give people when she didn't want them to worry about her.

"Kari—?" He started but Kari interrupted him.

"It's okay...the feeling has passed, we're not in danger anymore. I think we'll be safe here." She breathed.

That still wasn't her real smile...but there was a tinge of relief in her eyes. It wasn't much, but it was just enough to put him at ease a little. Davis noticed the worry on Gatomon's face as she curled up against Kari's leg.

The girl smiled at her Digimon, her expression peaceful but that only made Gatomon, and Davis himself, frown more. Gatomon obviously could sense it too...it was another fake smile.

"Kari...what's the matter?" Gatomon asked.

"It's nothing Gatomon. Don't worry, everything is fine." Kari answered, the smile never leaving her lips.

Gatomon glared up at the girl in disappointment, but Kari's expression didn't change.

Sometimes Davis had wondered how Kari and Tai could be siblings when they were so different—but there were also moments when he realized she was just as bit of Tai's sister, as he was her brother—this was one of them.

Kari was now being stubborn and sticking to her guns, something her brother was known for; stubborn, determined, and doesn't give up so easily once he has his mind set on something. She didn't want anyone to worry, and she was determined to keep people from fretting over her.

The staring contest between Gatomon and Kari continued for several minutes. (It was a weird one to say at the least.) Kari still giving Gatomon that fake, cheerful smile...and Gatomon glared up at Kari, as if attempting to break the wall Kari put up with just her eyes. Eventually, someone was going to give in.

"If anything starts to really worry you, or anything is wrong, you better tell me—or—or...or I won't forgive you!" Gatomon frowned in defeat, realizing that nothing was going to change Kari's mind.

They decided to trek further into the cold cave, though everything about this place was so chilly. Davis really wished he had a jacket. And not just for himself, but one for him, and Veemon…and Kari of course. She was in a tank top after all, Davis shirt…while short sleeved, still had some sleeves, that covered his shoulders. Gatomon was at least lucky that she had fur. Davis was almost envious of that.

There was an uncomfortable silence that hung over them. They journeyed for several minutes in the tense silence. Davis wondered if he should say something, but he wasn't sure what.

"Where do you suppose we are?" Veemon asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I wish I had a clue..." Davis frowned.

"Everything about this place gives me the creeps." Gatomon quietly hissed.

"No arguments there." The boy agreed.

But then it struck him...even Gatomon and Veemon didn't have a clue what was going on…they were both natives of the Digital World, how could _they not know?_

"So...whatever is going on...isn't something that ever naturally happens in the Digital World?" Davis blinked.

Gatomon and Veemon both looked at him, Veemon just blinked back but Gatomon eyed him with an expression that could only be described as _"duh!"_

Was it really that obvious?

He knew he could be absent-minded sometimes, (though everyone around him insisted he was that way _all_ the time), but could it really be _that_ obvious? He knew even Veemon, while not sending him a sarcastic look, was thinking the same as Gatomon.

"Hey, I'm not exactly from here!" Davis exclaimed defensively.

"It isn't natural. This whole place...it isn't natural." Kari repeated, her expression unreadable.

One part of Davis wanted to pout. So it was _that_ obvious then! Kari wasn't from there either—sure, she'd been in the Digital World before him and longer than him, but still...she wasn't a Digimon and yet she too could tell this whole thing wasn't normal.

But another part of him...felt a bit anxious and worried—maybe even a little bit annoyed. Kari wasn't acting like herself, something was up and she wasn't being upfront about it.

He pushed those feelings into the back of his mind. Davis wasn't one to dwell on that kind of stuff. He wasn't a thinker—he was a doer. He was much better at _"actions and reactions"_ than _"words and logic"_, and all that jazz.

Kari eventually would tell them something if she felt comfortable enough to do so. Or it could be equally possible that she was just as confused as they were, even if she was holding back something. So dwelling on that stuff wasn't going to do much for him regardless.

He just had to keep them all safe and somehow find a way back to Tai and the others. Everything would sort itself out eventually. It always did.

"Kari, do you know where we are?" Gatomon asked, more gently.

Kari frowned and just shook her head.

"I'm just as much at a loss as you guys." She said.

Davis eyed her a bit, taking in her strange expression. Well, he got the feeling she wasn't lying about that—at least. Gatomon seemed satisfied enough though and didn't press on that point any further.

"So then...what's our first priority—finding out where we are? Or finding out how to get back...from wherever we are...? I mean, that is, if this isn't some weird part of the Digital World." Davis chimed back in.

Gatomon was about to say something, but Kari interrupted her.

"This isn't the Digital World...not really." She mumbled.

Everyone then turned to stare at her again; she blinked a couple of times, her expression now all awkward and…shy? Was that it? Yes, that really was a word that fit her expression and behavior right in that moment. Kari was behaving shy—in a way—he couldn't help but remember the mannerisms, the awkwardness in her expression and posture; he'd seen people who were like Ken and sometimes even Cody, do stuff like that, but not Kari.

Sure Kari wasn't like him, or his sister, or Yolei…or even that Mimi girl, but she wasn't an awkward shy person either...and it was really strange.

He'd never seen Kari act all sheepish and embarrassed like this before, even if she would accidentally have an outburst, sure she'd be a _little _sheepish about something like that, but she'd just smile and giggle, and turn it into something she'd laugh about, and everyone could join with her on that. Everything about her behavior was not…at all what he was used to.

"I can't explain it...I don't understand it either—I just—I just somehow...can feel that this isn't the Digital World." She stammered out her explanation.

_"Not the Digital World?" _Davis blinked rapidly as he couldn't wrap his brain around this whole ordeal.

If they weren't in the Digital World, then where in the world were they? How did they get there?

All of this thinking was giving him a headache…everything about their situation was annoying and confusing as hell!

"This definitely is not the Digital World, no...it's all wrong, there is something wrong about this place." Gatomon narrowed her eyes.

"It's all cold and kinda all depressing and stuff here!" Veemon crossed his arms.

Well Veemon was right about that...it was cold and unsettling and in fact…almost miserable...like all the joy and life had been sucked out of it, leaving it with nothing but this gloomy haze.

They walked deeper into the cave, Davis wondered how long they had been in there. It felt like forever or something, but glancing at his digivice, which thankfully had a feature on it which could tell time, little over an hour and a half, had passed.

They walked another couple of feet, only to hear a thud. Davis and the others turned around, and—Kari had collapsed!

They all ran up to her side and Davis knelt down before her and picked her up slightly so that she was cradled in his arms, her head rested against his right shoulder. Gatomon rubbed her cheek against Kari's ankles, looking incredibly worried. Not that Davis could blame the Digimon. Kari was pale —even her lips were a lighter shade than usual. Her cheeks were a bit flushed and she was panting lightly.

"Kari? _Kari?!_" Davis hoped she hadn't fainted.

He hated this place! Everything was all so wrong!

Kari's eyes fluttered open and Davis wanted to punch himself in the gut. She looked so...guilty? Yes—shame was written all over her eyes. She felt guilty over this, when she really shouldn't!

Today he was finding all sorts of expressions he hated seeing on her face.

* * *

><p>"This is just like last time! You weren't feeling well, and you didn't tell us!" Gatomon did everything in her ability to not hiss at the human girl.<p>

"I'm...I'm sorry." Kari smiled softly.

Gatomon hated this—she hated this more than anything! Leave it to Kari to ignore her own well being because she didn't want to worry the others...why couldn't the girl be selfish for just one second?! It was maddening to Gatomon. The girl would probably bleed herself dry before she ever asked for help!

"Why are you apologizing? You know I hate it when you do that..." Gatomon said bitterly.

The Digimon felt like she was going to cry, but she refrained from doing so. Everything about this creepy place had her on edge. Not just because of the atmosphere, how apprehensive it made her feel, or just how flat out wrong everything felt...but also because everything about this place must of (at least she suspected) been having some sort of effect on Kari! She was troubled but she wouldn't confide to Gatomon about it, or even her friend and his Digimon, because the stupid girl was so stubborn and determined to handle it on her own.

Okay...maybe Gatomon could see why wouldn't confide to them (not really, Gatomon couldn't understand Kari when she did things like this), but not her. It's not only what aggravated her (almost) most of all...but hurt her too. She was supposed to be Kari's chosen protector...her partner, her companion..._her friend_.

They were supposed to be friends, and Kari wouldn't tell her she wasn't feeling well, or why she felt so distressed. She was keeping it to herself in some dumb little noble attempt of trying to protect everyone else so they wouldn't worry...because Kari didn't like being a burden. But she hated it, Kari and her were a team, they were supposed to trust each other and be there for each other, but instead Kari chose to keep this all to herself and damage herself further because she was _so_ annoyingly selfless, when she should learn to knock it off and think of herself_ for once!_

"I'm sorry..." Kari said softly again, repeating those two words she hated.

Gatomon had to remain calm. Kari needed her right now, and she had to be an example to everyone, she took a deep breath, letting the tension slip away.

"How long...how long have you felt like this?" Gatomon asked lightly.

She ignored the concerned expressions on both Davis and Veemon's face, all that mattered...all her attention, was on her human companion; either it was this creepy place, or Kari had felt like this even before they came here and refused to tell. Regardless, Kari had exerted herself too much; once again…she pushed herself more than her body was capable of handling in its state at that moment.

"I st-started...started to feel kinda funny...after I helped—" Kari then pointed to Veemon, she glanced up at Davis, guilt in her eyes, she instantly brought her eyes back down to look at Gatomon, "—after I...I helped give him some energy so he could digivolve...so we wouldn't die."

Gatomon remembered...Kari was always special. It was because of her Crest of Light; it was unique amongst all the other crests. When fighting Machinedramon, and all those Digimon they helped free who he captured and forced to be like slaves...everyone felt so weak, despite not feeling well, Kari gave them all strength. Her crest worked almost like...like a battery.

But something different had happened this time. Kari was never this drained after doing something like that before. Was it because of this place? Or was there really something different going on to explain it?

"I...I think I must of given too much...to Davis." Kari breathed; she didn't glance up at the boy, self-condemnation still written all over her face.

Of course...it all made sense to Gatomon. Kari had been worried that she'd make Davis feel like this was somehow his fault—it was typical of Kari. The boy was going to feel bad...one way or the other, it was plain as day to see the loud-mouthed boy cared about her human. Nothing Kari could do would prevent him from feeling like he was somehow responsible, but Kari always seemed to have this growing worry that Gatomon couldn't comprehend—this worry that she was nothing but a hindrance to those around her.

Gatomon didn't look up at Davis to see if he processed what Kari was insinuating and now feeling guilty for it, she continued to keep her eyes focused on her human instead.

However Gatomon was confused by her last statement...just what did she mean by that?

If she was giving power to Veemon, she should of given it to just Veemon, like last time with the other Digimon she helped, that the Machine Dark Master enslaved, as well as their own Digimon who fought against him and his lackeys...

"What do you mean you gave '_too much'_ to Davis?" Gatomon inquired.

There was an uncomfortable pregnant pause before Kari answered her.

"I...I can't explain it, it was sort of a...h-heat of the moment kind of thing...I mean, I was...I was holding DemiVeemon when it happened, but I was...t-testing something, I guess you could say...be-because I was also holding onto Davis's digivice too." Kari admitted, almost like a little kid who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"His digivice? Kari...I don't understand—"

And she didn't—numerous questions emerged in her head, why would Kari do that? Why would holding onto Davis's digivice do anything? What did she do with it? Why would all this make her feel sick? How did all of that even work?

Too many questions flew around in the cat's brain, but she couldn't overwhelm Kari with that stuff right now, no...Kari herself probably didn't understand this. Kari was...mysterious, even to herself. The girl seemed to have powers...she was not like her fellow Digidestined—everything about her was a unique case.

So instead Gatomon would just focus on only just a couple of questions, instead of the dozens that had flown around in her head at that current moment.

"Kari, _did_ you do something with Davis's digivice?" Gatomon asked blankly.

The girl refused to look up at the boy, or even look at his Digimon. Even though her face was turned in Gatomon's direction, her eyes focused on her lap. She wouldn't even look at the Digimon.

"I...I think so." Kari muttered.

_"She thinks so? What does that even mean?" _Gatomon thought as she frowned.

"I...I think I sort of...put in some of my energy, like I did with the other Digimon that one time...and with Veemon." Kari stated reluctantly.

"I...I don't understand." Davis spoke up lightly.

It was the first time the auburn-haired boy spoke up the entire time Gatomon had asked Kari these few questions. The Champion-cat looked up briefly, and noticed Davis looked both ashamed and confused, which was predictable of him but she could see why he'd feel that way.

Gatomon ignored that thought however, and instead turned to Kari again.

"Kari, why did you do that?" Gatomon placed one of her paws on the girl's hands that rested in her lap.

"I...I'm not sure. I just had this feeling, that I needed to do it" Kari finally looked up at her, her copper-colored eyes almost pleading for Gatomon to believe her.

And well...Gatomon did. She could tell Kari wasn't lying about that. Kari could put on a fake brave face many times, and while sometimes, Kari was actually good at that, masking her feelings when it suited her needs to hide them, but she still wasn't very well practiced in deceit.

Gatomon could almost thank Myotismon for molding her into one of his deceitful, two-faced minions..._almost,_ but she never would.

She hated that monster for everything he did to her, and everything he tried to do. For abusing her until she submitted and bowed to his will, taking her freedom…and all those years of her life away from her. From twisting her into one of his little puppets, turning her on the very Digidestined team she was supposed to be a part of. For trying to use her to get Kari, for hurting all those innocent humans—all for the sake of trying to find Kari, for nearly killing herself and Kari, and of course...for taking her first and best friend away from her...for murdering Wizardmon. No, she'd never forgive him, not ever in a million years. He could die a thousand deaths over, all in the most brutal ways, and she'd still never forgive him, he was the one Digimon she hated above all, and nothing about that would change.

She forced herself to push those thoughts to the back of her mind...they were not needed right now.

But still...the fact remained that Gatomon could see through lies and deceit very easily, being so well practiced into being a masterful liar herself once.

Kari was indeed sometimes good in keeping on a mask, but eventually...that mask always managed to fade away. Kari couldn't keep up her pretenses forever; she was not a deceitful person by nature, no she was too thoughtful and honest at heart, to be someone who was well practiced in lying. And it was quite obvious that Kari hated lying and masking how she feels more than anything, that she only puts up with it because of her she's such a bleeding-heart and can't think about herself before other people.

But this time, Gatomon knew the sandy brown-haired girl was being one hundred percent, truthful. Kari wasn't entirely sure how or why she had done what she had with Davis's digivice...it was just one of those things she...needed to do, for some unexplained reason...even to Kari, herself.

Well with that mystery out of the way there was only one question left. Was this realm itself to blame, was it because of what Kari had done, or a combination of the two?

"Kari, have you not been feeling well at all since that moment? Or do you think this place might have something to do with it?" Pushing the last question out of the way.

She could see Davis shift slightly out of the corner of her eye. She wondered if a part of him was actually hopeful that this place was mostly to blame, so that way he wouldn't have to feel guilty, like this was his fault, but she figured that he would feel that way regardless of what caused Kari to feel ill.

"I'm not...entirely sure. But I don't think it really is this place. I mean...it's unsettling and all...but this place is more the cause o—" Kari then seemed to stop herself before she finished that thought—she pondered long and hard, before she finally spoke up again, "No—I think...I think I might have somehow expelled energy th-that my body wasn't happy with me expelling...or something like that."

Well, while Kari was holding something back, she was being honest on that last part, Kari was certain that her not feeling well, had more to do with whatever it was she had done with Davis's digivice—that was all Gatomon needed to know.

Gatomon glanced back up again, to then notice a completely dejected expression on Davis' face. It was as she thought—the boy was blaming himself. Kari finally dared to look up at him and Gatomon noticed more guilt pile into the girl's eyes as she did so. Good, maybe Kari would learn to not always blame herself, Davis certainly didn't seem like the type of person at all to take the whole _"It's all my fault"_ crap.

"Davis...it's not...it's not your fault." She breathed weakly.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, his eyebrows narrowed as he bit his lip, grimacing as if he were fighting with himself.

* * *

><p>"Yes it is." He finally said, his eyes still tightly shut.<p>

This was what Kari had been afraid of. He was blaming himself—that was the last thing she wanted.

How could he be the one to blame? He hadn't asked for this to happen; it was all her doing. She made the choice to do that weird energy thing with his digivice and she had chosen not to tell everyone how she felt, and now...she couldn't help but feel it. She had this sense that the reason they were sucked into whatever this place was...was because of her.

She just knew it somehow, that they were all only here because they were with her. It was all her fault, all of it. Her brother was probably worried sick, as were the others, probably searching for them at that very moment...but they wouldn't have to worry so much...if it wasn't for Kari. None of them would have been missing in this mysterious, unnatural and unsettling place…if it wasn't for her.

_"It's always my fault..."_

Just as it has been before...just like all those families being kidnapped, and separated, and city being in turmoil...when Myotismon attacked...because he was looking for her.

Her mom and dad were taken away by him too...because of her. Mimi, her family, Sora and her mother were also captured too, all because Myotismon wanted her. Even Davis and his family got captured and eventually separated too...all because Myotismon was looking for her. Lillymon got really hurt fighting against Myotismon...only because she tried to help the people escape from Myotismon's clutches...but those people would of never been captured and Lillymon never would of gotten hurt trying to defend them...if it wasn't because of her.

Gatomon was captured and forced to be used to find her, because Myotismon discovered that Gatomon was destined to be her partner Digimon. Matt almost got choked to death, and Sora and both of their Digimon were almost hurt further...all because they were protecting her from being found and captured by Myotismon's underlings.

And that didn't even begin to describe everything Wizardmon went through and suffered, and eventually he died, sacrificing himself to protect her and Gatomon...her Digimon partner lost her oldest friend...all because he was determined to help her.

Why did people have to suffer because of her? It would be so much easier if they just all came out and said that everything was her fault, instead of trying to pile the blame onto themselves.

...Just like when Tai got in huge trouble when they were kids.

It wasn't his fault she was sick that day. It wasn't his fault that she couldn't kick a ball very well. And how could Tai have known that Kari would of only gotten sicker when she played soccer outside with him, he was just a little kid at the time.

But Tai was too much of a noble big brother to blame her. He insisted for years how that was his fault how she got sicker. Yes he shouldn't of brought her outside with him to play soccer...but really she had a choice in the matter.

She could of just as easily said no, curled up in bed and told Tai to go play with his friends outside instead, or that he should just stay inside. She didn't do either...yes Tai would of been mad, at that time being, at her for saying that...but it was far better than having him feel guilty over something for years. She should of chose to avoid that incident. Far better than having her brother blame himself and think he's not a good brother.

He wasn't a bad brother, oh no far from it...she was incredibly lucky to have him as an older brother. Always there for her, always looking out for her, always by her side, always providing for her when Mom and Dad weren't there or home, always giving her advice, always comforting her when she needed it...always protecting her.

She really missed him. It had only been probably about over an hour and a half, since they were trapped in this creepy place...but she already missed her brother dearly.

She wanted his warmth, his reassuring smile, his eyes that burned with courage and confidence—eyes that burned with such valor and bravery...like a flame...that would chase away any darkness and scorch away all her fears. He was her rock, her foundation...even if the world crumbled all around her, and wanted to drag her down with it, she never fell, because Tai always held her up.

Everything felt at ease when he was there, watching over her. She wished she could be so much more like him. That she wouldn't have to have these weird powers, or be the cause of everyone's misfortune...or that she could always seem to know the exactly what to do, just like Tai. Always so brave, always so proud, always so strong...

Yes, she had her friend—Davis...and Veemon...and she had Gatomon most importantly, which was at least comforting to her a little bit...to know she wasn't alone in this terrible place. That she had people with her who cared about her, and she cared about...after all, Kari was blessed with many wonderful friends. But it still wasn't the same, she felt terrible for thinking that, they were all wonderful people, and she cherished them all dearly. But there was a place in her life...a place in her heart, that only Tai filled, and no one could ever come to fill his spot.

She literally felt helpless, because her brother wasn't there with her, the world was crumbling around her, and she didn't have her foundation to hold her still and keep her up...no she felt like she was going to fall...

And she also felt so helpless because once again, she was dragging everyone down. And worse, Davis was blaming himself for it all. She really didn't like that, no one should feel guilty over things she is accountable for, especially not her friend.

"It's not—" She started, hoping maybe she could reassure Davis.

His eyes snapped open. He...he was_ glaring_ at her...!

Davis_ had never_ glared at her before, not once ever since the day she had met him...she'd seen him give that expression to other people, but not to her.

It was then she noticed, there it was...the same feeling...the same look, she'd seen on Tai before...from her parents, her other friends, and Gatomon...they all had that face before. Worry and anger, mixed into one expression. She really didn't like that expression when it was directed at her...she did her best to avoid it, but it seemed no matter how hard she tried, she'd always be on the receiving end of it.

"Don't..." Davis's anger and guilt only grew in his eyes, "_Don't_ you dare say that this was somehow _your_ fault! Don't you _even_ go there! You're sick because you tried to help _me!_ You were feeling sick this whole time and I didn't even notice 'til_ now!_"

He was actually trembling. She...she never realized she had made him this worried about her. It only made her feel worse. But doing her usual—saying sorry, or trying to reassure the other person that they weren't to blame—really wasn't going to work here.

In fact, Davis—flat out—it seemed, resented it only more if she did.

"I _should_ have known...!" He hissed, not looking at her.

_"But why?"_ Echoed through her mind, but she couldn't seem to give it an answer.

She wasn't his responsibility. Yes they were friends, but...he shouldn't have to feel like he should know when Kari is feeling well; like any of it was something he should be held accountable for.

He carefully picked her up, she lightly squeaked, as he carried her on his back, the Digimon followed after Davis as he hiked further into the cave. It got all quiet...even though her usual approach clearly hadn't worked in this situation, Kari wasn't really sure what else she could say.

"Davis...you're not—"

"Yes I am!" Davis exclaimed instantly, as if he somehow knew what she was going to say.

It got silent, until Davis finally spoke up again.

"I get captured, everyone comes to save me. I decide _hey_...maybe I can help by leading that skull-faced freak away from the others, only to get myself into more deep trouble because I was clearly in over my head! ExVeemon was so beaten and weak that he de-digivolved all the way back to DemiVeemon! I did all that without thinking, and not only were me and DemiVeemon in danger, but you come running along to try to get me away...to save me from that freak, only to get trapped with me, and then that jerk causes us all to nearly fall to our death!" Davis growled.

"Davis..." Kari was at a loss for words.

"And then you go and expel your energy stuff...whatever...not that I'm sure I understand that stuff, but you did it to save us, and now you're all sick!"

Kari didn't say anything in response...she didn't know what to say anymore. She certainly didn't see how this was his fault, but he clearly did. So she kept silent, which was okay, because eventually, Davis got all quiet too. And she wasn't sure what she could say to him...so this silence she was okay with.

* * *

><p>It had been almost two whole days since the disappearance of Kari, Gatomon, Davis and Veemon...and Tai was clearly becoming more and more livid. Izzy wasn't sure what he could do to help his friend. None of them were.<p>

Matt dragged them all back to a village which he and his group stayed at before all of this went down...a village filled with Motimon. Etemon's goons were crawling everywhere for the first two days so they had to hide somewhere and sit tight.

This only served to put Tai more on edge. Thankfully, the Digimon who helped them keep the ambushes that Phantomon set out in the forests and in the skies...were now helping them by searching for Kari and Davis in their stead while they remained laying low.

But none of that seemed to be comforting Tai. In fact...Tai so far it hadn't seemed to have gotten much sleep, from what he could observe about his friend, noting small signs of bags under his eyes.

"Tai, maybe you should take a nap." Izzy expressed his concern.

He knew why Tai was acting this way. He figured he could possibly be the only one in the group (besides Agumon and Tentomon, who were there) who truly knew. (Unless he confided such things he once did to Izzy, as he did to Matt and Sora). He was certain everyone could probably guess the reason why...Matt could even sympathize on a certain level. But Izzy actually knew why...why Tai was so nervous over his sister's disappearance...his overprotective nature concerning Kari.

Oh sure, Tai lightened up a little bit since a couple of years ago...but it was still present, it was clear to him Tai never fully got over his guilt. His guilt that stemmed from the incident that occurred when he and his sister were children. Tai knowing that Kari wasn't feeling well, but ignorantly—being a child and not having much foresight—thinking she'd be fine enough to go outside playing with him; because he wanted to go outside and practice some soccer but his mom had left saying he had to watch Kari instead...so he took her with him. And because of that...Kari only got worse, she collapsed, got even sicker...she had to go to the hospital because how sick she got...Tai had admitted to Izzy that she nearly died.

Anyone else would of told Tai that he was just a child and didn't fully understand, but Tai would never dare let an excuse like that fly for him. He was Kari's big brother, and Tai felt that it was his job to be her protector.

Tai's guilt was only made worse by Kari's forgiving nature—the fact that she had not even blamed her brother for what had happened, far too worried about him instead of herself...worried that her brother might not want to play with her anymore because she couldn't kick the ball very good...

It was Tai's biggest regret. It was one shame, Izzy could see that Tai wouldn't get over anytime in the near future, despite how he's slightly lightened up a bit on certain things. Tai vowed he'd never put Kari in danger again. He vowed that he'd always protect her.

"Don't want to..." Tai said quietly.

Izzy frowned and he could feel Matt stiffen beside him. The two glanced at each other; both worried for their best friend.

"Tai, not sleeping isn't going to help Kari. You should rest." Matt pushed.

"You just _don't_ get it...I...I _can't_ sleep...!" Tai actually admitted to his shock.

While that statement was ambiguous as to what Tai meant, from the way he worded it...Izzy could tell, even just from Tai's tone, that he was holding something back from them. What was it that was so terrible, that he was actually holding it back from both Izzy and Matt...his two closest friends? (Save Agumon, and Sora, his oldest friend.)

In his experience Tai hardly held much back from either of them—they were his best friends. Oh sure, there were still moments when Tai would hold back and vice-versa...but he really couldn't believe this was actually one of those times Tai was choosing to hold something back.

They all stayed hidden in a basement...and when one of Etemon's goons came strolling into town a couple of days ago, they not only remained down there, they turned on the Digital Barrier, just in case. Thankfully they left and hadn't come poking around since. But the gang still stayed down there mostly, except to eat or go to the bathroom. That remained the situation until that one Digimon...who Matt and the others seemed to befriend—Renamon—he believed was her name, told them the forest was safe for them to try to sneak around again.

T.K. and Yolei (and their Digimon), left to get some food, a while earlier, but they'd actually been gone longer than the group had expected. They were all slightly worried about that too, but Izzy didn't feel like the two were in any danger. Matt didn't seem _that _worried either...so Izzy felt it was safe to assume that they weren't in any danger either.

When the two finally did come down the stairs, as the basement door shut, Tai snapped to attention, and got up to go face them. Mimi and Sora glanced at each other, before they glanced back at Tai worriedly. T.K. and Yolei, along with their Digimon just smiled, clearly both in a relaxed mood.

"Where were you two?" Tai asked blandly.

"Oh yeah, sorry about taking so long guys...you see, well we got some snacks, but my legs were killing me, so Yolei and I just walked around the village for a bit, before coming back here. You know, to stretch our legs." T.K. answered cheerfully.

"What were you thinking?!" Tai growled.

Everyone looked up in surprise; T.K. and Yolei mirrored their shock, Patamon and Hawkmon stiffened next to their human companions.

"What if something happened?! We wouldn't know—something happened to make Davis, Veemon, Gatomon and Kari just vanish out of thin air, and you think going for a stroll away form the group is a good idea?! Plus we were told to stay in here until it was safe, and you think walking around like nothing is wrong is smart?! Don't do anything stupid like that again, you two!" Tai shouted.

Tai was yelling at them..._Tai was yelling at them__!_

Izzy could tell from Yolei and T.K.'s expressions, they weren't ever expecting that to happen. He hadn't either. He'd never...he'd never seen Tai cross with T.K. before. Minus the over-protectiveness...Tai usually treated T.K. almost exactly the same way he treated Kari.

Yes T.K. and Yolei should have asked them if it was okay to do something like that first...it wasn't that smart, and really they shouldn't have, however they didn't stray too far. They stayed within Motimon Village, they kept their Digimon with them, and they immediately came right back after their walk, and T.K. did apologize for them taking so long...Tai was still overreacting.

Even though he had a strong feeling he knew why Tai was shouting at them...T.K and Yolei being the same age as his sister...Tai felt powerless to help Kari or to find her...and his fears seemed to really be pressing down on him...but...he'd never expected to see Tai have an overreaction like this.

"Patamon—Hawkmon! How could you two just let them stroll around like that?! This isn't some picnic in the park, back home in the Real World! You both are responsible for the safety of these two! You should of made them come straight back here when they got their snacks!" Tai barked at the Digimon.

He was seriously yelling at their Digimon too?

"I...I'm sorry Tai, we didn't realize we made everyone worry...we didn't think that—" Yolei stammered out awkwardly, as she nervously glanced back and forth between Hawkmon, Patamon, T.K. and eventually back to Tai.

"Yeah that's right! You two didn't think at all!" Tai spat as he glared down at the two preteens.

"Tai—!" Sora shouted.

It was enough to divert his attention long enough away from the two, as T.K., Yolei and their Digimon instantly scampered off, while Tai eyed the orange-haired girl. Sora glared at her childhood friend, frustration and disappointment in her gaze, they both glared at each other, not saying a word. Izzy noticed out of the corner of his eye, Matt stomped over towards Tai, but he was distracted by T.K., Yolei, Hawkmon and Patamon, approaching him. The two preteens both stared at Izzy, shocked and confused. But Izzy felt he'd probably talk to them all later about this, he was then distracted again, as the red-head heard Sora, Biyomon, Mimi, Palmon, Agumon and Gabumon gasp...that was when he (and the other four around him and Tentomon) looked up, reluctantly.

Matt socked Tai right in the jaw, causing the spiky-haired brunette to tumble down, his arm collided with a couple of trinkets that was sitting on a dresser that was behind him, knocking it all over, before his rear crashed into the ground. He looked up, fire now in his eyes...Tai's fury was now directed at Matt now, which Izzy felt that was likely Matt's intention. (That and to try to knock some sense into their friend.)

"You wanna _start_ something Matt?!" Tai snapped back up to his feet, his fists looked like they were itching to take a shot at Matt.

"You need to chill out! Geez Tai, you're practically frothing at the mouth like some wild animal!" Matt snapped back in response.

Izzy felt speechless in that moment. He hadn't seen these two fight like...like this...since a couple of years ago. Any argument Tai and Matt ever got into _now,_ never got to the point of violence anymore...in fact it didn't even that often get to the point of shouting matches. This was the first time in a long time he'd seen the two like this.

"Oh, so I'm an animal now, am—"

Tai's angry retort was cut off by Matt.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't stutter Tai! I get it, you're going stir-crazy because we've been stuck in here two days without being able to go out there and try to find Kari or the others."

There was an awkward pause for a slip second, Tai opened his mouth but Matt cut him off on that again as well.

"Yes we know...you're very worried about your sister and want to know if she's safe...I _get it_ Tai, _we _all get it! But that's no reason for you to be acting like this! T.K. and Yolei are fine! They didn't stray from the village, and I'm certain they're aware that they should of asked first before walking around the village! Go lay down somewhere and just _cool it!_" Matt shouted back at the goggle-head.

Tai looked like he was at war with either inflicting pain on the blond teen, or running off in his fury. His friend's fists trembled as he looked down.

"No you _don't_ get it, _none of you_ get it! How _could_ you get it! You don't understand what...you never seen—agh, just forget it!" Tai's need to retreat eventually won.

He stormed off into the next room in the basement; he slammed the door shut and locked (at least Izzy thinks he did) himself in there. Everyone stared at each other warily, unsure what to do or say, shocked in silence. Agumon ran ahead, running into the room (apparently the door wasn't locked), and then shut the door behind him, maybe in hopes that he could probably try to help Tai.

But even Matt was speechless, and actually didn't go after Tai. Sora didn't either (well none of them did). They all just stood around in uncomfortable, tense silence.

What did Tai mean by that? Out of everyone in the group, Matt would come the closest to sympathizing with Tai, being an older brother himself...and Izzy knew about Tai's past regret...what was it Tai felt they couldn't understand?

Unless, his suspicions about something else going on that Tai wasn't telling him about were accurate...did it have anything to do with that statement when he said he couldn't sleep? Or was he over-thinking this?

Logically, it would obviously be the guilt of what happened in the past, his frustration of being stuck down there, his sister being missing, and two days with not much sleep, all just pounding into him, and Tai was just lashing out because of all that built up stress was weighing down on him...logically that would be the case.

But Izzy couldn't help but feel, that while that was clearly part to blame, there was something else, and Tai seemed too ashamed or scared to tell them why—or something to that effect.

* * *

><p>Davis<em> officially<em> hated this place...well okay that was wrong, he already hated the place...what he really felt, was that _officially_ he hated it _even more! _

It had been four days since they were stuck in this creepy _whatever it was._

Three days ago, when they made it all through the tunnel, in the mountain eventually, they came face to face with an ocean, a very creepy ocean that even Davis would have to admit...made his skin crawl. Kari only seemed to react worse...he saw an even more frightened expression on her face when she saw it, then he's ever seen on her before.

She was beyond petrified. She literally started to breath so quickly, Davis was scared one of her lungs would burst. Her whole body trembled almost violently in fear. She shook her head, her face twisted into a face that would probably haunt Davis...say forever...he never wanted to see her so terrified ever again.

She screamed they needed to get away; they needed to get as far away as possible from that spooky beach and ocean. Which was fine, that place made his skin crawl. And she didn't need to beg, she didn't have to tell him twice...if that beach and that ocean horrified her that much, then he'd never let her go near it again. With Kari on his back, they ran back into the tunnels in the mountain and they didn't look back.

They managed to run back into the woods, behind the mountains. But Kari felt almost as uneasy there as well.

The beach was a big no-no, she was the most frightened of that ocean. The woods, were also a no-no as of recently, because there was something or somethings—or whatever—that was there, that Kari claimed was looking for them...coming for them, and that they needed to stay away. Davis suggested fighting whatever it was but Kari practically panicked at that suggestion and it stressed her out more than she had already been at that time. Davis felt terrible for that, he didn't want her to be stressed out, he told her to forget about it, and they wouldn't fight whatever it was that was _"coming for them"_...So he instead went with her wishes and they ran and hid.

They hid under a big tree, it was hallowed out under the base...as they crawled under it one that night, two and a half days ago...they watched as something lurked right by...it wasn't...well it _wasn't_ human obviously. It was some dark...black thing. It kind of looked like a Digimon. But at the same time—Davis wasn't sure it was a Digimon.

He'd never forget the terrified expression on Kari's face when she saw that thing (it was almost as bad as the expression on her face when she saw that creepy as hell—ocean...still bad, but not as bad).

When it eventually left, they ran and ran, sticking by the mountains because Kari seemed less nervous or upset when they were there as opposed to the other two options. Oh she was uneasy there too, but it seemed to be the _least_ worse option of the three.

She still wasn't feeling well. It'd been four days, and the girl got no better. In fact, she'd gotten worse, because she was so anxious and stressed... she wasn't getting much sleep either—sleep which she very much needed.

The girl had nightmares the past four nights. So she only got a couple of hours of sleep, _at most_, per night. Davis hadn't had that much sleep either, nor had Veemon and Gatomon for that matter. (Sure, they gotten a bit more than her...but their worry about Kari and her screaming waking them up in the middle of the night kept them from getting complete healthy amount of hours of sleep.)

She also hadn't been eating much of the snacks her mother had packed for her either, insisting she wasn't that hungry.

Davis wanted to explode, all he wanted to do was help Kari and make her feel safe and get better, but this place...nothing about it encouraged either of those things. But he wasn't sure what he could do for her...nothing he or the two Digimon tried seemed to lift her spirits or put her at ease, at all!

"Kari, you should at least try to sleep a little bit." Gatomon pleaded.

They rested in one of the tunnels within the mountain. Davis wrapped Kari in her blanked the Koromon gave her, as she laid down and rested her head on her backpack, while he did his best to start up a fire for them. They all huddled around it...Davis pulled out the blanket (thankfully both his and Kari's were kept in her bag, so at least he'd have it with him) that the Koromon made for him as well, as he wrapped it around himself. Veemon crawled into the comfort of his blanket, as he sat in between Davis's legs, while watching the fire.

Everything about this place was weird and creepy...with the color still present but almost a little bit drained away, as everything had the gray hue tinged everywhere. Even the crackling fire had a gray-ish hue to it a bit...this place _really_ sucked!

"I can't Gatomon...I...I don't want to see all _that_ again." Kari practically whimpered, as Gatomon wiped some of the sweat off her forehead.

"Kari, please you should try..." Gatomon pushed.

"I don't want to...I don't want to see Tai again, only...only for him to go away, th-then I'm trapped...alone in this...darkness, and then...with those voices...they won't leave me alone..." Kari admitted, as a single tear streamed down her cheek.

He'd never seen Kari admit this much before, she was usually so tight lipped about her nightmares she was having. Her exhaustion must have been getting to her.

But he was really mad now, specially when he saw that tear...this place seemed to thrive on doing nothing but make Kari suffer!

_"If I found out this is the work of some ruler of darkness or something...I'm going to kick them in the balls for hurting Kari! And then I'll beat them up some more for making her cry!"_ Davis grit his teeth.

"Kari, I know it's scary...but you have to at least try...you need your strength if you are ever going to get better." Gatomon curled up against the girl's chest.

Kari closed her eyes in defeat, but Davis had a feeling she wasn't actually asleep, she was just trying to appease them.

He really,_ really_ hated this place.

* * *

><p>Sora sighed to herself. Ever since that blow up five days ago...Tai had been very tight lipped, but still very tense. He seemed to grow tenser by the day, but he kept it all to himself. Everyone walked on eggshells around him—surprisingly even Matt and Agumon...like Tai was some kind of ticking time-bomb that was just waiting to go off.<p>

The Digimon called Renamon said it was safe for them to depart from Motimon village two days ago, so they wasted no time as they scowered around in search for Davis, Kari and their Digimon. Renamon stuck with them, so that way they wouldn't get lost, plus she apparently had promised Mimi and them that she was going to help lead them to Haven Village safely when she ran into their group.

This was something Sora was grateful for as they could use help of someone who knew their way around there. The other Digimon who had helped them fight against the ambushing forces that Phantomon had in place, continued to search for the two preteens and their Digimon as well.

All groups, being cautious as Etemon's forces were still on the look out for them. Apparently, Etemon himself got involved with searching for them, which didn't surprise Sora in the least. All the more reason they needed to be careful. Izzy told Tai and Matt to be watchful of their tags, just in case they get some activity from one of them. (And they could really use a warp-digivolution.)

Sora glanced over at Tai, who was ahead of the group, staring squarely at the back of his head, her eyebrows crinkled in concern. Tai still hardly spoke a word to anyone. And she could tell that he was getting worse- he still wasn't getting much sleep at all. She heard Agumon mention offhand to Gabumon that Tai didn't get a wink of sleep at all the night before.

He was running himself ragged, and he wouldn't tell them all why. Sure they all knew part of the reason. Sora herself knew too, and she found out a five days ago, (after Izzy tried explaining part of the story to Yolei, T.K., Mimi and Matt, about why he was so overprotective of Kari) that clearly Tai had at some point told Izzy about it.

Sora herself remembered Tai telling it to her years ago, when they were still children. It was when Kari was brought home from the hospital. Sora's mother made the most beautiful arrangement of flowers she'd ever made, from their flower shop, and they both stopped by to deliver it to Kari. She still remembered how guilty and ashamed Tai looked, how torn up he was. She knew it wasn't because he was grounded. Tai eventually caved in and told her. She remembered how he fought back to not cry in front of her as he told her everything that happened. (After all, Tai was a big tough guy who would never dare cry in front of a girl).

But while that was definitely the foundation behind all of the baggage Tai was carrying, there was another reason he was behaving this way...well probably part of the reason.

When they stopped to make camp that night, near a little stream by the mountains, the others started to set up, Matt started the fire, while Tai wordlessly volunteered to go fill up everyone's water bottles. He just grabbed them all and left. Agumon tried to follow after but Tai just told him to stay put.

To her surprise, Agumon actually obeyed him.

She exchanged worried glances with Matt and Izzy. She gave them a silent nod, and followed after Tai, Biyomon didn't follow directly after her shadow for once. But that was okay, she was fine with Biyomon and now Agumon following her from a distance. Keeping themselves several feet away.

She eventually found Tai, who had already filled up their water bottles, all of them sitting next to him as he silently watched the flow of the stream. Biyomon and Agumon hid behind a tree about seven or eight feet away, watching and keeping a protective eye from a distance.

Sora cleared her throat, to make it known to him that she was there. Tai didn't turn around, but he did flinch slightly, before his sat still once more, and let out almost an annoyed sigh.

"What, you come to tell me how hypocritical I am for taking off by myself while I chewed at Yolei and T.K. the other day for just walking around?" He eventually spoke.

Sora frowned...Tai wasn't actually accusing her of thinking that, really, that comment was mostly directed at himself. But still, she'd humor him a bit.

"You know I wouldn't say that, and I certainly didn't come over here to say that." She put her hands on her hip.

"Then have you come to slap me and tell me to shape up and start acting like the leader I'm supposed to be?" Tai muttered _almost_ sarcastically, but there wasn't enough actual energy in his tone to truly muster it.

He felt so defeated...she could tell, and Sora blinked as he said all that. Why would he say that she would...? Oh...she then remembered when she slapped him on that floating fortress days ago when he was letting his over-protective nature of Kari take over and cloud his judgement.

While yes...she could lecture Tai again on how very un-leader like he was being...that wasn't what he needed right now. Matt already chewed him out (and punched him)...so she didn't need to lecture him too when he already got one a couple of days ago. Besides, he seemed to get the picture if he was sitting here sulking, actually admitting this stuff (even though it wasn't outright).

"I doubt you'd even listen...besides, that isn't going to help you right now." Sora sighed.

He still didn't turn around, so instead she moved to sit next to him. He wouldn't look at her though. His goggles and headband pulled down, resting around his neck as he continued to watch the stream. Several minutes had passed, and they just sat in silence like that, him not even sparing a glance at her.

"Aren't you going talk to me...at all?" Sora breathed.

She wasn't use to Tai being so distant to...well any of them really. They were all his friends, and it felt like he was keeping them at arm's length.

She still got nothing but more silence. She sighed again as she scratched her forehead, wondering if everything she was doing was pointless.

She shifted, ready to leave him be, but she was a bit startled when she felt him grab her wrist, then pulled her directly towards him. She blinked as she felt his closed eyes buried against her shoulder, his crazy hair tucked itself under her chin or against her cheek, one hand was still holding onto her wrist tightly, the other wrapped itself around her, as his fingers were buried under her hair, pressed against the back of her neck.

It...alarmed her...a bit. Tai never really done something like this before. She wanted to say something, but what could she say?

"Tai?" She tried.

It was then she felt, the fabric of her shirt that was around her shoulder, it was starting to get wet...Tai's fingers, they actually trembled. Sora felt her eyes widened slightly, as her eyebrows raised, now really at a loss for words...was he...was he actually crying?

"I _can't_ go back to sleep Sora...I can't do it. Every time I do—I see her...!" Tai bit his lip.

Sora only blinked in response, her hands moved to hug him back, but she froze, she wasn't sure why she did, her hands stayed there, hovering over his back.

"Kari?" She said instead.

She felt him nod against her shoulder.

"She's calling me name, begging me to come find her...I call out to her, but—it's like she can't hear me, I run to her, but she can't see me. Then something, something pulls her away, out of my reach. She's so scared, she's terrified, as this dark fog is swallowing her, taking her away. She's screaming, screaming even louder—begging me to save her! Begging me to come to her rescue! Begging, and pleading...but then she vanishes without a trace!" Tai started to choke on his words.

Sora then reluctantly placed her arms around Tai. He didn't push her away though, so she decided to lightly rub the back of his neck, as she felt him try to fight back the rest of his tears, but he couldn't. He couldn't fight against it anymore.

"It's just nightmares Tai..." Sora uttered softly.

But those words of comfort felt hollow, it wouldn't give him the reassurance he needed, she frowned at herself for saying it...especially when she felt Tai lightly shake his head, his shut eyes still pressed into her shirt.

"They're not...I'm not sure how...but...I know they're not! I know I don't have strange powers, like I can't give a bunch of Digimon my energy! And I can't sense things, I can't predict bad things before they happen...like Kari now seems like she can as of lately...!" Tai muttered, "But I just know it—I can feel it! She's in some dark place that I can't reach, she's terrified...terrified more than she ever has been in her life. She wants me—_needs me_... more than ever, but I can't reach her...!"

Sora wrapped Tai into a tighter embrace, the only sounds that she paid much heed; was that of her own breathing, Tai forcing himself to try to not to cry, the stream next to them, and the breeze around them.

"She's so afraid, so...so afraid, an eleven year old girl...should never have to be that terrified...!" Tai mumbled bitterly.

Tai moved his head, so his cheek was now resting against the upper-left side of her head, so she still couldn't see him...but that was okay, Tai probably didn't want anyone, not even her...to see his face when he was as...scared as this.

This wasn't some electrical fence...this wasn't some evil crazy digital monster that was threatening the world...this wasn't even the threat of death on Tai's own life...

For Tai...it was something much worse. Something far more frightening...the life of his little sister.

"Maybe you see her...because...because you know, you're both family. Maybe these nightmares, while upsetting, will eventually help you find her." Sora began to rub his back gently.

She felt Tai tense next to her.

"Then why...why is she so terrified? Why isn't my sister safe and sound? Why can't I see her, or hear her, or get to hold her...?! Why isn't she here Sora?! Why haven't I..." She felt Tai choke, "If I'm truly the older brother I'm supposed to be, then why haven't I found her yet? Why haven't I brought her back safely yet?!"

Sora began to comb through the strands of hair, that rested on Tai's hairline on the back of his neck, she never ceased rubbing his back—in hopes of comforting him...putting him at ease. Sora fought back a couple of tears of her own, only one managed to escape, as it slid down the other side of her cheek.

She held Tai so closer, as she felt his racing heartbeat, his panting for breath, as they embraced...her heart just ached.

She'd never seen Tai so...so openly vulnerable.

Sure he'd displayed such things on a couple of occasions around others, not just herself, but it wasn't something he did often and it certainly was never to this degree.

But still...what he just said, it actually managed to break her heart a little. Tai was not only afraid of losing his baby sister...he was afraid of most of all, failing her...failing to be there for her, failing to save her. To Tai...that was probably the ultimate crime he could never forgive himself for.

He...he already felt like a failure, he wanted nothing more than to have Kari in his arms right now, just to see her face, and know she was okay. But he didn't. And these nightmares were plaguing Tai, that she was not only in danger, but she was in danger and there wasn't a single thing he could do about it.

Words felt practically useless when it came to trying to comfort him in this situation, but Sora felt she had to say this anyway.

"Tai, everything is going to work out. Davis, Veemon, and Gatomon are with her. We'll find her, no question about it. Besides...she's your sister. You Kamiya's are some of the most stubborn people I know, she'll make it out okay!" She lightly eased Tai out of the embrace.

But she stared at the collar of Tai's shirt, instead of looking at his face...as she knew he probably still didn't want her to see his face...all torn up.

"Tai...you conquered own personal fear and found your courage...just to come rescue me once...if you could do something like that for little ol' me, I can't even imagine how much more powerful your courage will become when you conquer this too...because this is something bigger...this is your little sister. And you've gone above and beyond for her...you won't fail her, because you love her more than anything. And trust me on this..." She moved to stand up, but she still had her arms around his neck, "Speaking as someone who knows power kinda comes from love...I know it will guide you to your sister. And your courage will shine even brighter when you do. But if you let those demons in your heart win...they'll take Kari away from you forever. You can't believe that you are a failure or you will fail...or it will happen."

Tai moved to stand up, he almost seemed like he was going to move to take her hands off him...but instead, he just lightly gripped onto her hands, his eyes still shut. Sora dared to look up, and was thankful to see the tears were not on his face. She felt a bit saddened seeing the bags under his eyes though, but she was relieved to see a small smile on his face. It lifted Sora's spirits slightly.

"I know in my heart Taichi Kamiya...that you're going to find your sister. Just have faith in yourself that you're going to find her...and have faith in her as well...just like I know without a doubt that she as faith in you." Sora smiled softly.

Tai silently chuckled at that. Sora felt her earlier sorrow for them, now completely melted away. She wasn't sure how...but somehow she managed to lift Tai's spirit...even if it was only a little, it warmed her heart to know that she could be of some comfort to him.

Tai leaned forward, his forehead lightly bumped into hers, he let it rest there for a minute, Sora was grateful that Tai had his eyes closed, because Sora had a hard time fighting back a blush, she was at least thankful it almost completely went away by the time he finally did open his eyes.

"Thanks Sora...I really needed that." Tai breathed.

"Anytime..." Sora nodded gingerly.

"No really..." Tai chuckled, "I should apologize to everyone, you all were so worried, I suppose I should thank Matt for socking me a good one earlier...I kind of deserved that."

"Yeah you kind of did." Sora giggled lightly, in agreement.

He held her hands more tenderly, his forehead still rested against hers, his brown eyes almost seemed to now turn into an even softer gaze than previously.

"I guess I'm not so hopeless if someone like you can still shine her love for me..." Tai gave a warm smile.

Sora felt her cheeks start to get hot again...great and with his forehead still resting against hers, he could probably feel the heat rise in her face eventually...and just what did he mean by that comment?

"Not many people would be lucky enough to say they'd have a friend as caring as you." Tai said softly, as his eyes held the expression of gratitude.

_"Oh...that's what he meant. Thank goodness..."_ Sora blinked.

"You okay?" Tai blinked.

"Fine, fine! Don't worry, it's nothing important." Sora giggled, feeling another blush come on, but she smiled besides it.

"Sora, Palmon and I finished making your din—oh my..." Mimi came in on the scene, taking in Tai and Sora's foreheads resting against each other, while he held onto both of her hands.

It was only then Tai seemed to finally realize how...er...intimate they would appear to an outside party. Not too mention they were surrounded by nature, and there was even a stream behind them, the sky was orange and pink, thanks to sunset...needless to say...it awkwardly looked very...romantic.

They pulled away immediately, Sora playing with her hair as she looked down at her shoes, while Tai just scratched the back of his neck and pretended he was looking at the trees...both of them were now blushing the same shade of red.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything..." Mimi giggled, as she started to bounce away.

Sora and Tai felt both their eyes widen at that, knowing Mimi she would make up and spread gossip all around the camp fire to everyone in their group. And then she'd probably never let them live it down til the day they died.

"Uh...Mimi, hang on—!" Sora followed after her friend, "Mimi wait!"

"Mimi! It isn't at all what you think it was!" Tai sprinted after them.

Despite Mimi's shenanigans, Sora was happy to see Tai start to act more like his old self again. He was still worried, he was still stressed...but it seemed there was now some levity in his heart, and he was willing to try to sleep more peacefully...take care of himself, and not keep himself away from everyone. He wasn't letting himself be consumed with his doubts and worries.

Tai apologized to everyone, sat down, and they all had a pleasant meal, and Izzy happily informed Tai that he emailed Gennai a couple of days ago, and is still waiting for a response back...but that he informed their wise old figure of guidance of what recently happened, and maybe Gennai might have a clue of how to help them, or to know where to look.

Sora smiled softly as she watched Tai engage in a very casual conversation with Matt and T.K., she couldn't believe how much of a relief it was just to see him being himself was, even if only a bit...to her. But she felt more at ease, if it wasn't for those bags under his eyes, Sora would actually be convinced that Tai was on his way to being completely back to his old self.

But she lightly frowned...he wouldn't completely go back to being himself again...one hundred percent...not yet. There was one thing missing. His baby sister...Kari was Tai's treasure...his star. The light in the center of his universe...nothing would go back to as it was until they got her back.

But Sora knew they would find her. It was something she just knew in her heart.

She fiddled with the hairpin in her bag, that Tai given to her about two years ago, for her birthday. She wondered why sometimes she brought it...she usually still preferred to wear hats. But she couldn't help but smile as she played with it in her fingers.

She brought up Datamon to Tai, not just for any reason...after all, she meant what she said, Tai's a courageous person who wouldn't let the people he cares about down...he doesn't do that. Not because he's perfect or because he'll never fail...but because his love and care for his friends and family is far stronger for him than any fear or doubt. She still remembered very vividly how she felt that day...she was scared, but Tai came for her. Despite the obstacles, he still came for her...and if he could go that far for her...his childhood friend, then she really couldn't imagine how far his courage would shine for his little sister.

She knew Tai would be okay...because Kari was his light, nothing was ever dark or sad when she was there, because she brightened up his life...he would find her.

She fiddled some more with the hairpin, before she slipped it back into the bag, a little smile adorned on her lips.

She knew Kari was going to make it out okay...not just because Tai was the young girl's brother. But because like Sora herself...Tai was also Kari's courage. He gave her the inspiration to fight against her fears and doubts. He gave her the strength to move forward, even when it seems pointless and the road seemed frightening.

Everything would work out in the end...the orange-haired teen was pretty confident about that.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>-To Be Continued-<span>_**

**Okay school is a pain in the butt, and I had to do all those re-edits, and I may have been guilty letting some things like...I don't know, say Tumblr take up some free time perhaps...BUT HERE IS CHAPTER 20!  
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**Okay so yeah...Jun is a freaking awesome character and I love her, and I seriously wish she had more screen time. Also yes, that little girl is basically an A.U. version of Jeri Katou from Digimon Tamers. You're wondering, who was that indifferent rude person she was with? His importance will crop up later eventually.**

**Poor Kari, poor Tai :(**

**One thing I noticed, while everyone's characters evolved and developed in Digimon Adventure, Tai's...overprotective issues about Kari seemed to be swept under the rug by the time 02 came around...and it sort of is frustrating, because that was a big deal about Tai's character. That can't magically go away so easily. It got addressed and even some small development, but I never felt it was fully realized and had a resolution...I was expecting 02 to give it some resolution, especially when Kari established her hero worship and inferiority complex regarding her older brother...here I was thinking they were finally going to give that part of Tai's issues regarding that particular thing (along with Kari's as well) getting the resolution and concluding development it needed...yeah not so much...02 seems to have a habit of dropping several plot threads and sweeping them under the rug ^^;...but anyways, so I'm going to do that, I'm going to try to give it the fully realized development and resolution.  
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**Also one thing I wish they focused a bit more attention on (and didn't just sweep under the rug), was Kari's insecurities and issues...the insecurities she has about herself in general, and just generally, the insecurity and inferiority complex and brother worship she had of Tai.**

**It always intrigued me how these two, they were so insecure, concerning certain things about themselves, and those issues stemmed back to each other...their brother and sister bond was one I loved most of all in the show and I found so endearing, and tugged at my heart strings, for both good and sad times.**

**Such issues deserve actual focus!**

**Also Dark Ocean sucks too, I agree Davis. :(  
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**Oh also before I forget! I made a fanart of what the original six (tai and the gang) all look like now. Some of them have different hair styles and they all have different outfits. I'll eventually make some for the other characters, (though the newer kids are just wearing some of the outfits they wore in 02, but eventually I plan on changing those), and I will eventually get fanart up of Davis, Yolei and Cody's crests, what they're symbols I'm describing actually look like. (though that will wait until Cody actually get's his crest).**

**But anyways, here is the fanart I was talking about. I posed it on my tumblr. **

**angelrin89(-dot-)tumblr(-dot-)com /post /44820704204 /finally-posting-some-fanart-from-my-fanfic-so _(just remove the stuff in parenthesis and spaces)_  
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**I'm also posting my fanfic there on tumblr too. So if you have a tumblr and maybe wanna give a second review to my chapters, you can totally do so! I'd especially love to hear what you guys think of the new and improved versions of the earlier chapters.**

**angelrin89(-dot-)tumblr(-dot-)com /tagged /Digimon-Adventure-Remix-02 _(same as above)_**

**Special thanks (as always) to my beta, LithiumRukia, for helping me with the editing of this chapter. **

**Well I hope you guys enjoyed (or not...seeing is how depressing it got :/) chapter, please leave a review! I would much appreciate it! :D**


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